A Family Adventure in Life and War
by Ginger1280
Summary: A sequel to A second chance to grow up Lelouch and Suzaku are happy with their new lives, between school and friends things couldn't get better but when Lelouch's new father goes down overseas and goes missing it's up to Lelouch to rescue him
1. A bright new morning

Disclaimer: I don't own Lelouch and Suzkau! Obviously.

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"Ugh….. Grrr…. Aldair! Aldair! Get off of me!" came a muffled shout from beneath the black and white comforter.

The anteater just growled.

"Aldair!" Lelouch cried, trying to pull himself out from underneath the large anteater. "Why are you laying on top of me?"

"Well how was I supposed to know?" Aldair sighed, rolling off of him. "Maybe if you didn't hide underneath the blanket all of the time, I'd know where you were."

"How can you not know that you're sleeping on top of a giant breathing lump?" Lelouch sighed as he sat up, hitting the off button on his alarm clock.

"Lelouch!" came Leon's familiar voice through the door. "Are you up?"

"Yes dad! I'm up!" he called back. He then climbed out of bed and went to get ready for school.

It was now November and Lelouch was now thirteen, after serving redemption for the blood he had spilt back in Britannia, he had to grow from being a toddler to a teen in five months. But he was happy, and comfortable with his father Leon, his little brother Kit, and his baby sister Mercy.

Ever since he had arrived in this 'alternate universe' he found himself becoming more and more like a normal kid living in sunny La Jolla California with his family, many of his friends living just an hour away in Oceanside at Midnightstar Sanctuary.

He dressed as usual, in his somewhat dressy attire, before he headed downstairs for breakfast with his brother and sister.

"Good morning big brother!" said Mercy from her seat at the breakfast bar in the kitchen.

"Morning Mercy, morning Kit." said Lelouch with a smile as he sat between them.

"Ready for that history test today Lelouch?" Leon asked with a kind smile as he set a bowl of oatmeal in front of Lelouch.

"I studied all week for it, I better be ready." he said with a smile.

"What's it about Louie?" Kit asked curiously.

"The Roman empire. Uncle Braydon helped me study. What about you guys? What are you doing today?"

"Today we get to go to the computer lab!" said Mercy excitedly.

"Yeah, we get to play with this really neat math game." said Kit excitedly.

"Math game huh? Have fun with that." Lelouch said with a smile.

"Hurry up and finish you're breakfast guys. It's time to go." said Leon.

"Yes sir." all three of them said in unison.

So they all finished up their breakfast before grabbing their bags and running out to the car ready for the day.

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Suzaku grumbled as the sun shined through his bedroom window hitting him in the face.

"Suzaku! Suzaku! It's time to get up honey!" came Cecile's voice from the kitchen.

"Ohhhh, already?" he yawned as he stretched. "Ack!"

Suddenly his face was covered in rough slobbery kisses.

"Oh Jurri! That's gross!" he sighed as he climbed out of bed. He reached down and picked up Nanuq, his furry little beluga whale that had fallen on the floor during the night. "Don't touch Nanuq Jurri." Suzaku warned as he set the plushy on the bed.

Jurri just let out a small whine as she tilted her head to the side, her tongue hanging out of her mouth as she watched him walk into the bathroom.

After washing his face and brushing his teeth, he got dressed and went out into the kitchen where Cecile set a plate of pancakes on the table.

"Good morning Suzaku." she said with a smile as she sat down.

"Good morning mom." he yawned.

Cecile just chuckled softly as she gently ruffled his hair and kissed his cheek making him smile.

"Now hurry and eat your breakfast Suzaku, if we don't leave soon, you'll have to take the bus."

"Yes ma'am." he said, then he continued to eat his breakfast.

Suzaku was very happy living with Cecile. The two of them lived in a small two bedroom house on Coronado island across the harbor from San Diego California and it was home for them.

Suzaku went to Coronado high school with Lelouch and they always spent time together either at Suzaku's house or at the after school club on Naval Air Station North Island where Leon worked as a pilot and Cecile worked as an aircraft engineer.

But life was now simple, happy.

He was now dating Euphie who had gone through redemption for the Japanese Massacre and together they were Freshman with Lelouch and a group of oddball friends that they had made along the way including another one of Leon's rescued WWII friends who was now an American history teacher across the hall from their world history class with Lloyd's boyfriend Braydon.

"Alright Suzaku, time to go." Cecile said with a smile as he washed his plate.

"Yes mother. Are we going over to grandpa's house after you get off work today?"

"Of course Suzaku. We always go to your grandfather's house for dinner on Wednesday night. Though I think it's just because you want to see Euphemia."

"Of course I do mom, she's my girlfriend." he said as if it was obvious.

Cecile just laughed as she gently shoved him out the door.

"Let's go lover boy." she said with a laugh.

"I'm going mom, I'm going!" he laughed, running out the door to the car.

Before long the two of them were heading to the other end of the island.

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Ginger: yay! new story! As always, beginning chappies suck! But it will get soooo much better trust me! Thanks for being faithful everyone! Digimon dreamer, Imaginedreams22, and starlight luna!


	2. A Normal School Day

Disclaimer:I don't own anything that goes with Code geass yada, yada, yada.

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"Hey Lelouch!"

Lelouch turned to see Suzaku running towards him in the hallway.

"Good morning Suzaku." said Lelouch with a smile as Suzaku caught up.

"Hey, are you ready for Uncle Braydon's history test?" Suzaku asked curiously.

"As ready as I'll ever be. Uncle Braydon sure makes history hard doesn't he?" Lelouch sighed.

"No joke." Suzaku agreed. "But at least he makes it fun."

"But first we have to survive P.E."

Suzaku chuckled a little. "You've become stronger and you still suck at P.E. I find that funny."

It was true Lelouch had gained not only three inches in height along with Suzaku, both of them just around six feet, but he had also gained strength, enough that the usual things like running, jumping, and climbing that had been tough on him, were now simple.

"Just because I can run a mile, that doesn't mean I have to like it." Lelouch said stubbornly making Suzaku laugh a little.

"Hey, look at it this way, today's free day in the gym. No running."

"That usually means dodge ball and that stupid Josh Morgan trying to hit me." Lelouch muttered.

"Oh, that's right." Suzaku muttered. But then he smiled. "Hey, just stick with me Lelouch, you know I won't let anyone mess with you."

"I know." Lelouch admitted, smiling a little.

"Though I'll be honest, I never thought I'd see you of all people be the victim of bullying."

"Yeah, I didn't see that coming either, but I guess I'm getting used to it." he shrugged as the bell rang.

"Come on, let's get to class." said Suzaku.

So the two of them headed to the gym where they dressed out before:

"Alright, it's Wednesday and I'm sure everyone knows what that means." said their big burly coach as they stood against the wall after roll call. He pulled out a large red rubber ball. "Dodge ball, everyone in their usual teams."

Soon everyone was divided up on either side of the row of red dodge balls.

"I've noticed you're really starting to enjoy this game." Lelouch said, watching Suzaku as he waited for the coach's whistle.

"I know, I didn't expect to care about it all that much, but now I just find it amusing." Suzaku admitted with a grin.

Sure enough when the whistle was blown, Suzaku was one of the first to take off and grab one of the balls, throwing it and immediately hitting one of the opposing players.

"You have way too much fun with this." Lelouch said with a small smile of his own as he jumped away from a ball that was aimed for his legs.

"I'll admit I really do." he said, catching a ball and hitting another opponent.

Just then: "Hey Berkenbridge! You're next you dork!" laughed Josh Morgan as he threw the ball at Lelouch.

But Lelouch caught it, much to the amazement of Suzaku and Josh.

"Do you want to do it, or should I?" Lelouch asked Suzaku with a smile.

"Please, by all means my lord." said Suzaku grinning back with a mock bow.

Before Josh could say anything else, Lelouch threw the ball and hit the boy in the face, making him fall over before he got up and walked to the side grumbling angrily.

"Nice throw." Suzaku laughed.

"That was a good feeling." Lelouch admitted as Suzaku caught another ball before hitting someone else.

"You know, I swear we're the only one's that can stand here and have a conversation in the middle of a dodge ball game like it was nothing." Suzaku said with a smile as Lelouch dodged another ball before diving for it and throwing it, hitting another kid.

"This is probably true." Lelouch agreed with a laugh.

The game continued until it was time for everyone to dress back in, Lelouch and Suzaku's team winning, the two of them being the only ones to never get hit the entire game.

"So are you ready for that history test?" Lelouch asked as they stopped by their lockers on the way to history class.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Suzaku sighed, taking out his history book and putting it in his backpack.

"Did you study for it?"

"Of course I studied for it. But I just don't do so well with history." he admitted.

"Hey Lelouch! Suzaku!" came a voice behind them.

They turned to see their small group of friends walk up to them.

"Are you ready for Professor Braydon's history test?" Tanya asked with a smile, her red curls bouncing a little as she tilted her head.

"Pretty much, are you?" Lelouch asked her.

"Of course!"

"Same here." said Luis.

"We all studied last night." said Sharissa.

"Yeah, how come you guys didn't come to the group study?" DeShawn asked.

"My dad had an evening hop so I had to go home and baby sit my little brother and sister." Lelouch admitted.

"Ah, that makes sense." agreed Tanya. "What about you Suzaku, where were you?"

"I was over at my Grandpa's house last night. My Uncle Travis helped me study." Suzaku said.

"Well either way, we better go before we're late for class." said Sharissa looking at her watch.

So the six of them headed to class where they sat in the front in their little group talking until the bell rang.

"Well, I've got good news for everyone!" said Braydon cheerfully as the class started.

Everyone groaned and grumbled knowing that a test was about to be placed on their desk.

"Well don't you all jump up in excitement at once." Braydon sighed, rolling his eyes at the class. "It truly is good news I promise."

"Good news means no test Professor." said Kevin Sanders in the back.

"This is true, but you're close. I've decided to postpone your test until next Friday."

At that everyone cheered.

"But….!"

The class stopped and starred. "You all have to do a project on the roman empire."

Everyone groaned again.

"Just kidding."

"Please just tell us the truth professor." Suzaku sighed.

"Just be happy I'm not bringing your former boss in as a guest speaker Suzaku." Braydon said with a smile.

"Oh God no!" Suzaku huffed. "That'd be like…… the worst idea ever!"

"Well you should be happy that he's a nit wit when it comes to history. I'll be honest, I don't feel like grading a bunch of tests so I decided we'll just watch a movie today." Braydon shrugged.

Everyone stared.

"Seriously professor? The only reason we're not taking a test is because you don't want to grade them right now?" Tanya sighed.

"So? I feel a bit lethargic every now and then just like the rest of you."

Lelouch and Suzaku smiled at each other a little. They were both pretty sure they knew why Braydon was feeling tired.

"I can assure you that the two of you are quite wrong my dear nephews." Braydon said, popping them both on the head with the stack of papers that he had in his hands.

"Ouch! How do you know what we were thinking Uncle Braydon?" Lelouch sighed, rubbing the top of his head.

"I know exactly what the two of you were thinking and I'm telling you that you're both wrong. I'll explain why later. Now, does everyone want to watch the movie or not?"

Everyone just nodded quietly, so Braydon pulled down the overhead screen before putting in the movie.

But as everyone quietly watched the video, Lelouch and Suzaku couldn't help but notice Braydon quietly drifting off at his desk in the corner.

When the bell rang, Braydon turned on the light waking the few people that had drifted off in the back.

"Alright everyone I'll see you all tomorrow morning." Braydon said, sitting at his desk.

"So why are you so tired today Uncle Braydon?" asked Suzaku as they stopped at his desk on their way out.

"Well first of all I can assure you that it had nothing to do with Lloyd." he pointed out making the boys blush. "Second of all, I've been feeling a bit under the weather lately anyway, and third, I had a nightmare last night and I'm sure the two of you know all about those kinds of nightmares."

They both nodded in agreement.

"Anyway, go on, head to your next class. I'll see you both at dinner tonight."

"Okay, see you later Uncle Braydon." said Lelouch.

"Yeah, bye Uncle Braydon." said Suzaku.

Then they both headed out to the hall before heading to Biology.

"Hey, you guys weren't going to say hello today?"

"Hi Mr. Corruthers." said Suzaku and Lelouch in unison.

"How has class been so far?" Jake Corruthers, the former WWII captain asked with a smile.

"Okay I guess." Lelouch shrugged.

"How has your father been lately Lelouch?"

"Decent. He's been acting a little strange lately, but other then that……" he admitted.

Jake gave him a curious look.

"Acting strange? How so?"

"It's hard to explain." he said, remembering his father's last conversation with the strange shadow.

"Anyway, you guys better get to your next class, the bell will be ringing soon." Jake said, looking at his watch.

After saying their goodbyes the group went to biology class.

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The rest of the day went on as usual before everyone went to the after school program on the base where they did they're homework before playing video games until their parents arrived to pick them up.

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For Lelouch and Suzaku dinner at Midnightstar Sanctuary was it's usual controlled chaos as all thirty kids played together before it was time for everyone to go home.

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But for some reason, Lelouch had a feeling that his night was about to take another strange turn.

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Ginger: Okay guys, a little look into Lelouch and Suzaku's usual school day. I figured Suzaku would become the type to enjoy a good game of dodge ball. Anyway! It's going to start getting interesting once they reach Christmas! I hope you guys are still enjoying this! And for the record! Yes I do like reviews here and there! Please?!


	3. Late night conversations

Disclaimer: I don't own Lelouch, so what?

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It was getting late and Lelouch couldn't seem to sleep, between the anteater's growling snores beside him and his father's unusual behavior, his brain just couldn't seem to shut down.

After a while, he quietly got out of bed before walking down the hall to his father's room, hoping for someone to talk with. But as he reached for the knob, he paused.

Leon was talking to someone in his room, but Lelouch knew that the only person at that time of night would have been Leon's girlfriend Sahara who had been sent to Germany for three months.

It was then that he heard it. The mysterious voice.

"Master Hadrian, why do you not just ask your son for help?" the voice asked.

"I already told you Sarafi, I will not let Lelouch become involved in this matter. There's no reason for it, he doesn't need to know about it." Leon said sternly.

"But sire, he is the only way to regain your memories."

"He can't be the only way."

"But his power can open that lock with ease."

"I'll take the hard way then. Besides, that's only if you're correct and he still has his power. If he does, I would prefer it to remain suppressed inside of him. He doesn't need it now and he doesn't need to loose control of it. While he does have a strong will to live his life, he doesn't have the anger and the will power that controlled it before."

"Master, what if he is the only key?"

"Then I shall do without those memories and live on as I do now."

"But sire…….."

"This conversation is over Sarafi. We don't need to discuss this any further. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes Master Hadrian."

After several moments of silence Lelouch began to feel somewhat uncomfortable standing out in the hallway alone.

It was true though. If he did still have his geass, he had no idea what he would use the power for anymore, let alone be able to keep it in check and he didn't want the past to come back and haunt him.

He soon decided that he didn't want to stand alone any longer, so he quietly opened the door to find Leon sitting on the edge of the bed, his back to Lelouch as he stared out the large bay window at the moon lit ocean.

But there was an unusually troubled look on Leon's face.

"Dad?" Lelouch asked softly.

Leon turned to look at him. "What's wrong Lelouch?" he asked kindly.

"I couldn't sleep, so I wanted someone to talk to." he said, walking over and sitting beside him.

"Well what did you want to talk about?" he asked, looking back out the window.

"I don't know." he shrugged. But then he got an idea. "Dad, how old are you?"

"That's a good question." Leon sighed softly. "I don't know anymore. Part of me is saying I'm turning twenty one this year, but something else is saying that I'm turning forty one instead."

Lelouch couldn't help but stare for a moment. "Well, I guess that explains why you act older."

Leon gave him a sad smile. "You've heard a few of my conversations haven't you?"

Lelouch blushed a little.

"You seem to be developing a habit of eavesdropping here." he said accusingly with a raised brow.

"I worry about you dad." Lelouch admitted.

"Well I worry about you as well." said Leon, gently running a hand through Lelouch's hair. "I don't want you to get involved in any of this."

"Do you think I still have my geass?" he asked curiously.

"I don't know, but I will be honest, I'm not exactly eager to find out."

"I guess I'm not either." Lelouch said honestly. "I don't need it and you're probably right, I don't know if I can control it as well as I used to. So…… who's that weird voice I keep hearing."

"Her name is Sarafi and she seems to be trapped inside of me. She can only show herself as a shadow. But she claims to be my knight and that I'm missing twenty years worth of memories. Sometimes I wonder if I believe her, or if I'm just going insane."

"If it was just you going insane, I wouldn't be able to hear her, and Suzaku heard her too a few weeks ago when he spent the night."

"Well then, that's one theory that just went out the window then." he sighed heavily.

"Well I don't think you're insane." said Lelouch. "I think sometimes I might be insane, and I think you're a little crazy and over eccentric sometimes, but not insane."

Leon finally laughed a little. "You're not insane either Lelouch. You're a good kid with a troubled past."

"I did have the insane evil laugh down pretty good though." Lelouch pointed out with a smile.

"Oh I wouldn't doubt that, but I think I can top it with that snarling growl of mine."

This time it was Lelouch's turn to laugh.

"This is true." he agreed.

"So, are you feeling better now?" Leon asked him.

"Yes. Are you?"

"Absolutely." Leon agreed. "But it's getting late and you have school in the morning. You need to get to bed."

"Yes sir." Lelouch said, standing up, then he paused for a moment before hugging Leon tightly. "Thanks for talking to me dad."

"You're very welcome Lelouch." said Leon, hugging him back. "Now get to bed."

"Okay." he said, then he left the room before climbing back into his own bed, careful not to disturb Aldair. But unlike before, he was finally able to drift off into a deep peaceful sleep.

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Ginger: okay, now things really are about to start getting interesting, skip to Lelouch's birthday next! Whoot! AS I said before, I do like reviews just like every other writer here, just be nice, if you don't like it, you don't have to read it, if you do let me know! And for my faithful readers, thank you so much!


	4. Happy Birthday Lelouch!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that has to do with code geass...... don't I wish though.

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"Lelouch! Lelouch! Come now! It's time for you to get up." Leon sighed, shaking Lelouch awake.

"But dad!" Lelouch whined, rolling over to look at his father. "It's Saturday! And it's my birthday, don't I get to sleep in a little?"

"You have slept in, it's already eleven in the morning. That's long enough." Leon said with a smile.

"This is the only disadvantage of having you for a dad. Even Grandpa sleeps in till the afternoon when he can!" Lelouch sighed.

"Yes well I'm not your grandfather am I? Now come on, get up."

"Alright." he finally growled getting out of bed.

"Good, I'll see you downstairs in a little bit then." said Leon, then he walked out of the room.

"That's right, it's December 5th. I forgot all about your birthday." Aldair said as he stood up and stretched on Lelouch's bed. "How old are you anyway?"

Lelouch paused for a moment as he got dressed. "That's a good question. Technically speaking, I should be twenty. But now….. My body's only thirteen so…… I don't know."

"So do we put twenty candles on your birthday cake, or fourteen?" Aldair asked with a chuckle as he hopped off the bed.

"I honestly don't know." he admitted. "How about seventeen?"

"Seventeen? Why seventeen?" Aldair asked curiously.

"Well think about it, my physical age is fourteen, but my true age is twenty, and seventeen is right in the middle of both." he said with a smile.

Aldair let out a hearty laugh, his snout splitting wide open to reveal his sharp teeth. "I suppose I can see the logic behind that."

"Though personally I don't think I'd mind fourteen candles. It just means I have an extra six years to repeat. I learned before that I should enjoy my life, second childhoods are obviously a rare occurrence, so I'll just take what I'm given."

"That's very wise." Aldair agreed with a nod.

Lelouch just smiled before walking out of the room and heading downstairs.

"Happy birthday big brother!" said Mercy said, pouncing on him in the hallway.

"Thanks Mercy." he said, hugging her back.

"How old are you today Louie?" she asked in curiosity.

"I couldn't tell you anymore. I thought I was turning twenty. But now….. I don't know."

Mercy giggled. "That's funny! How could you not know how old you're turning Louie? she giggled.

"Hey, if your body's age and your true age were six years apart, you'd have the same problem." said Lelouch with a smile.

"I guess, but I don't have that problem so ha!" she said with a giggle.

"That's kinda mean isn't it?"

"Maybe, but you're my big brother and I can pick on you."

"I think it's the other way around Mercy, I'm the big brother so _I_ can pick on _you_." he said, grabbing her and tickling her.

Mercy laughed uncontrollably before squirming out of his grip and running down the stairs.

Lelouch just smiled before heading downstairs after her.

"Happy birthday Louie!" Kit said with a smile as Lelouch joined them for breakfast. "What are we doing today?"

"I just want to stay home." Lelouch admitted as he began eating the bowl of cereal that Leon had placed in front of him.

"Stay home and what? That's really not much of a birthday now is it?" Leon asked with a smile.

"I know, but I just want to stay home with everyone today." Lelouch admitted.

"If you say so Louie." Mercy giggled.

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After breakfast Lelouch headed back upstairs to feed his cuttlefish like he usually did, but this time, when he walked into his room, he found something very unfamiliar.

Hanging from the ceiling, in the middle of the room, was what appeared to be a sling, made out of heavy duty stretchable fabric.

Lelouch walked over to it, cautiously touching the green sling. Then he found an opening. "I wonder what this is……" he mumbled. But before his thought's could catch up to him, he climbed into the swing and started swaying lightly. "Ooh! It's comfortable in here." he muttered to himself with a happy smile as he snuggled down into the fabric. Then he continued to rock himself till he was swinging back and forth, laughing childishly.

But he was so busy having fun that he didn't see his dad walk into the room until suddenly, he stopped swinging.

"Having fun are you?" Leon asked.

Lelouch poked his head out and looked up at him. "Hi dad!"

"I see you've discovered your first birthday present."

"It's sooo cool!" he laughed. Then he paused. "This is how you use it, right?"

Leon chuckled a little. "Yes. It's like a big fabric swing. It's usually for autistic children so they can feel safe, then my sister Rachel discovered that it was good for kids that are heavy thinkers. Like you."

"How'd she discover that it was good for heavy thinkers?"

"Rae Rae got one for me when I was eight. And she made it big enough for me too. My mother could never get me out of the thing."

"I don't think I'm getting out of mine." Lelouch admitted, pulling his head back in and getting comfortable.

"Well I figured you'd like it, but you should come downstairs. Did you forget that Sahara was coming home today?"

Lelouch poked his head out. "Miss Sahara's coming home? When?"

"She's already home. She got a ride here from the airport. She wanted to surprise you for your birthday. So are you going to go downstairs and say hello?"

Lelouch scrambled out of the swing, just to get his feet caught, but Leon caught him right before he could hit the floor.

"I suppose you need to practice on getting out of this thing safely." Leon chuckled with a smile making Lelouch blush a little. "Now go on, downstairs with you."

Lelouch just smiled before running downstairs where he found Sahara playing with Kit and Mercy in the living room.

"Welcome home Miss Sahara!" he said happily as he hugged her.

"Well happy birthday Lelouch." she said, hugging him back.

"Thanks Miss Sahara."

"I hope you like the present I got you from Germany."

Lelouch starred for a minute. "You didn't have to get me a present Miss. Sahara." he said honestly.

"Yes I did, it's your birthday after all."

Lelouch just shook his head with a small smile as he sat down and began playing a board game with Kit and Mercy until it was time for lunch.

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Despite the simplicity and resemblance to every day life in the Berkenbridge household, to Lelouch, it was one of the best birthdays he had ever had.

But when he was about to get up after lunch Mercy said, "Where are you going big brother? We didn't have cake yet!"

"Cake?"

It was then that Sahara walked out of the kitchen with a birthday cake just big enough for everyone to share, with several lit candles on it.

Lelouch couldn't help but smile when he counted fourteen candles and in loopy writing the green and blue icing said 'happy birthday Lelouch.' He couldn't help but feel somewhat awkward as the family sang happy birthday to him, but at the same time, he felt extremely happy.

"Make a wish and blow out your candles Louie!" said Kit.

"A wish huh?" he muttered. 'I wish….. That I'll make good use of these extra six years that I was given and have a better life then I did the first time around,' he wished to himself, then he blew out the candles.

"What'd you wish for Louie?" Mercy asked.

"That I make better use of my life the second time around." he admitted as Sahara cut the cake.

"That's a very good wish Lelouch." Leon said with a smile.

"What would you wish for daddy?" Kit asked curiously.

"Yeah, that's a good question, what would you wish for dad?" Lelouch asked.

"I don't know." he admitted honestly. "I suppose I'd wish that my life will continue being as wonderful as it is now."

"I like that wish too." Sahara admitted as Lelouch helped her pass around the plates of cake and vanilla ice cream. "But you had a very good wish Lelouch. You're lucky, not many people get a second chance to relive the years that they missed."

"I know. Now granted, I don't regret everything I did back in Britannia. It did end up making the world a better place. But unlike most people, that world really is better without me in it."

"And our world is better _with _you in it." Leon said. "Who knows what you'll do here?"

"I want to be a fighter pilot like daddy!" Kit said proudly.

"I want to be an engineer like Aunt Cecile and Uncle Lloyd!" said Mercy.

Everyone starred at her for a moment.

"What?" she asked innocently with a shrug.

"You truly do love Uncle Lloyd don't you Mercy?" Lelouch asked with a little smile.

"Yes! He's kinda quirky, and he's a real oddball, but he's a good uncle." she said in Lloyd's defense.

"I can just imagine you playing Lloyd's conscious like Cecile." Leon said with a chuckle.

"I can too." Lelouch admitted. "He even admitted straight up that he was a total sociopath."

"What's a sociopath?" Kit asked.

"Someone who's mind can't tell the line between right and wrong. Someone without a conscious." Leon explained. "That's why Lloyd was able to focus on science and mechanics without worrying about the human element. He really had no emotions about it all."

"Ohhhh! So then how'd he fall in love with Uncle Braydon?"

"I don't know. I suppose Braydon unlocked those emotions somehow. I did notice that Lloyd actually takes time to think about what words he lets come out of his mouth these days."

"I really have yet to get to know that man." said Sahara sitting down beside Lelouch.

"It'll take time to get to know the entire family." Lelouch admitted. "Even I haven't gotten to know everyone."

"That reminds me! You're Uncle Will is coming for a visit in two days." Leon said suddenly.

"Uncle Will? Grandpa's little brother?" Lelouch asked curiously.

"I guess he wanted to get away from Virginia for a while." Leon shrugged. "He's going to stay with us for a week."

"It's probably for your birthday because if I remember right, you were his favorite family member and you're birthday's on Tuesday."

"Oh, that's right, I forgot all about that. Tuesday I'll actually be at the legal drinking age." he said with a tiny smile.

"I still can't believe you're just now turning twenty one." Lelouch sighed.

"I don't know how old I'm turning anymore, remember?"

"So then, how many candles do we put on your cake? Twenty one or forty one?" Lelouch asked with a smile.

"I really don't care. I won't be here, I work Tuesday. I've got a twenty four hour shift."

"A twenty four hour shift on your own birthday Leon?" Sahara sighed.

"I've worked my birthday every year for the last seven years. Mind you my thirteenth birthday was one of the best."

"Why's that daddy?" Kit asked.

"That's when I got to fly my first tomcat." he said proudly.

"I still can't figure out why you love to fly." Lelouch admitted.

"Maybe someday I'll show you."

"Ooh! Take him up in the P-51 daddy!" Kit said excitedly. "That was the coolest flight ever!"

"What?" Lelouch asked bewildered.

"Daddy's got a whole bunch of old planes that still fly!" Kit said excitedly.

"How'd you manage that on your salary?" Sahara asked bewildered.

"I was insane enough to start dealing in the stock market when I was ten." Leon muttered somewhat embarrassed. "I'm sure Lelouch would be smart enough that he could figure it out well enough to do it himself."

"Yeah, but I'm not ten years old." Lelouch pointed out.

"I did strange things when I was bored as a kid okay?" Leon shrugged.

"I wonder about you sometimes Leon." Sahara sighed.

"Yeah well so does the rest of the world."

"He's got a point." Lelouch said.

Sahara just rolled her eyes with a sigh as everyone else giggled and chuckled at her.

"Anyway, it's Lelouch's birthday, not mine yet." Leon said stubbornly. "So pester him around something quirky he does."

"What's there to pester me over?" Lelouch asked with a smile.

"The fact that when it rains at night you go lay in the grass outside and stare at the sky." Leon pointed out.

"I only do that……" he paused thoughtfully. "Almost every time it rains outside." he muttered slowly. "Okay, so I do some weird stuff too." he shrugged, making everyone laugh.

After everyone had finished eating and the table had been cleared, it was time for Lelouch to open the presents everyone had gotten him.

Sahara had gotten him a beautiful crystal snow globe from Germany, Leon had gotten him a book trilogy of murder mysteries that actually sounded interesting, and Mercy and Kit had each made him a birthday card in art class.

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Later that night Lelouch sat upstairs in his swing, gently rocking back and forth as he read the first book that Leon had gotten him.

But he got a surprise when Aldair's nose suddenly poked him through the opening.

"Lelouch, you've got a guest." Aldair said.

Lelouch poked his head out as he looked underneath himself to find an upside down Suzaku laughing at him from the doorway.

"Suzaku? What are you doing here?" Lelouch asked curiously.

"I came to say happy birthday. And I brought you something." he said holding up a small wrapped box.

Lelouch just looked at him in curiosity, he never noticed that he was slipping until he tumbled out of his swing head first and onto the floor.

"Are you alright Lelouch?" Suzaku asked, concerned as he sat down beside Suzaku on the floor.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Well here." said Suzaku, handing Lelouch the small package.

"You didn't have to get me anything Suzaku." Lelouch said.

"Well you got my dad's pocket watch fixed for my birthday and I know that it didn't come cheep to do that. So I wanted to get you something for your birthday to say thanks."

Lelouch opened the box to find a pocket watch, and the face was a picture of him, Kallen, Shirley, Suzaku, and Aldair on the beach together.

"Wow, that's so cool Suzaku, where did you get it?" Lelouch asked, looking at the picture in awe.

"I took it to that guy that you took my watch to. He makes custom watches and I remember you telling me that this was one of your favorite pictures from when we first moved here."

"Thanks Suzaku. I really appreciate it." he said honestly, amazed that Suzaku would take the time and most of his allowance to get him something with such a personal touch.

"You're welcome Lelouch." said Suzaku smiling back. "So what else did you get?"

"Miss Sahara got me this really neat snow globe from Germany, and dad got me some books, and this swing, and Kit and Mercy made me birthday cards in art class."

"Sounds like a nice simple birthday."

"It was." Lelouch agreed. "And I enjoyed it immensely."

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The rest of the night, the two talked until it was late and time for them to go to bed.

But as he drifted off to sleep, Lelouch couldn't help but remember his birthday wish.

'I sure hope my wish comes true.' he thought to himself. Then he curled up against Aldair and fell into a deep peaceful sleep.

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Ginger: Yay! Happy birthday LuLu! And hopefully his birthday wish does come true! I hope everyone is still enjoying this, and like I said, I love reviews, just be nice and if you like it leave a review, if you don't well..... no one's forcing you to read this now are they? Anyway, my usual thanks goes out to my usual faithfuls! Thanks for keeping the story going!


	5. An Interesting Chat with Mortacai

Disclaimer: I don't own Lelouch or Suzaku, but I do own Mortacai and Leon so ha!

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The days continued to pass and as Leon had predicted, he was working for his own birthday. December continued to slowly pass by and Lelouch was happily spending more and more time with the family.

It was the weekend of December nineteenth and Lelouch was staying at Midnightstar sanctuary for the day playing with all of his old friends and many of his new ones, including:

"Hey Mr. Malachai, can I look at Mortacai again?" Lelouch asked with a smile as he sat on the porch alone, watching the sunset after dinner.

Malachai chuckled at him. "Only you and Suzaku can take Mortacai's attitude."

"But he's funny, and it's neat to see all the history he has in him." Lelouch admitted.

"If you say so. Reverto ut mihi meus libri animus!"

Just like always, Mortacai fell onto the table with a loud thud.

"Hi Mortacai." said Lelouch with a smile.

"Hi there Lelouch!"

"Now behave Mortacai," said Malachai sternly.

"I will!" Mortacai snapped back.

Malachai just huffed as he shook his head and walked off leaving Lelouch with Mortacai.

"So, what do you want to talk about Lelouch?" Mortacai asked.

"Do you know anything about someone named Lucilius Hadrian?" Lelouch asked in curiosity.

"Lucilius Hadrian? You're not talking about the ruler of the demons are you?" Mortacai asked incredulously.

Lelouch looked at him in curiosity. "The ruler of the demons?"

Mortacai flipped through his pages before stopping on a page.

"Hey! That looks like dad, only…… older." Lelouch said in curiosity as he looked at the picture. "What can you tell me about him Mortacai?"

"Lucilius Hadrian. Lucifer considered him a creation gone wrong. Lucilius was created to rule over all the demons of Hell whenever Lucifer didn't feel like taking the time to deal with them all. But he never realized that Lucilius had quite the heart. He destroyed one of Lucifer's sons after he escaped from hell for all the suffering he brought to a small city. After that Lucilius had help from Master Malachai and Sarafi who was one of Lucifer's other creations that had been granted admission into heaven."

"So Lucilius was helped into Heaven?" Lelouch asked curiously.

"He was feared by the archangels. He was the king of the demons of hell, but he was loved by the Great Creator and he was accepted as an archangel. But he has one white bat wing, and one black feathered wing. They would call him the demon of light and the angel of darkness as he was the only one that could walk in both Heaven and Hell, and it didn't help that Master Malachai was his best friend either."

"So…. What happened to him?"

"The High Elder banished him to earth. But other then that…… no one knows if he's still alive, or if the Powers found him and destroyed him."

Lelouch looked at the picture in curiosity.

It truly did look like Leon, only much older. He didn't have his glasses and his short white and blue hair was slicked back. He wore a set of crimson and silver robes with two wings sticking out behind him, one white bat wing and one black feathered wing.

"Did he like to fly like Mr. Malachai?" Lelouch asked curiously.

"Oh absolutely. Sometimes I wondered if Lucilius enjoyed flying more than Malachai, and Master Malachai loved flying."

"So no one knows what happened to him, huh Mortacai?'

"Not that I know of."

"No one knows what happened to who?" asked Suzaku, walking up and sitting beside Lelouch. He looked at the page in curiosity. "Whoa! That guy looks like Uncle Leon."

"It's Lucilius Hadrian. Ruler of the demons of Hell." Lelouch explained.

"Ruler of the demons of Hell huh? I find that kinda creepy to be honest."

"So what else do you know about the guy Mortacai?"

"He rules over the ghost riders."

Lelouch and Suzaku glanced at each other in curiosity before looking back at Mortacai.

"What's a ghost rider?" Suzaku asked.

"Haven't you ever heard the old song 'ghost riders in the sky'?"

"No, can't say that we have." Lelouch admitted. "So what's a ghost rider?"

"Someone bound to Lucifer by a contract. Mind you it's amusing because most people think it's a legend an what not, but there truly are ghost riders. Don't let the comics fool you."

"Comics?" Suzaku asked.

"Oh several comics have been made about some supernatural super hero, but the truth is, ghost riders are real. They're people that have sold their soul to Lucifer and when he needs someone to go out and catch some evil spirit or some demon that got loose or what not, he would go to that person and force them to be a ghost rider. He started using them a lot more when Master Malachai decided to fall to earth. But after one of Lucifer's sons got loose, Lucilius punished him by taking all of the contracts and taking control of the ghost riders before he escaped to Heaven."

"That's weird." Lelouch sighed. "So this guy must've been pretty strong to do something like that."

"He was created as Master Malachai's equal." Mortacai explained. "But unlike Master Malachai, he has quite the healing power. I've seen one of the warriors run a sword through his heart and he just chuckled at it like it didn't hurt at all. It was somewhat disturbing."

"I'd find that disturbing." Suzaku admitted.

"Yeah, just a bit." Lelouch agreed.

"Anyway! Is there anything else the two of you would like to look up?" Mortacai asked with a chuckle.

"Can we see Uncle Braydon's family?" Suzaku asked curiously.

"The Spencer family it is." said Mortacai flipping pages again. "Sheesh! No wonder the guy has nightmares. He actually died twice during the war after he lost his family."

"Uncle Braydon died?" Lelouch asked in shock.

"Twice. I remember him now too. Malachai kept fighting with him. He would let go too easily so Malachai would force him back into his body until he actually started attempting to live. I also recall your father beating the snot out of him." Mortacai chuckled.

"My dad beat someone up?" Lelouch sighed.

"The first time I saw your father's psychotic temper. Braydon was the stupid one that keep trying to attack, so Leon just pounded him into the ground. Malachai had to go try and retrieve the soul of the German guy Leon killed that day. I believe he's the one that haunts your hallway Lelouch."

"Because my dad killed him?"

"Well he tried to kill Leon first, but he caught the boy at the wrong moment. He stabbed Leon, but then Leon crushed his face beyond recognition in one kick before sending him flying through two tree trunks. So while Leon was in the right, the idiot haunts your house."

"Oh how comforting." Lelouch sighed.

It was then that they heard Leon's familiar voice calling from the door.

"Lelouch? It's time to go home." he said.

"Coming dad! Thanks for all the information Mortacai."

"No problem, I always enjoy talking to people, no matter what the subject." the book said, then it disappeared.

"Goodnight Lelouch."

"Night Suzaku, I'll see you at school on Monday." he said, then he ran to his father.

Before long they were on the way home Lelouch keeping the subjects cheerful and entertaining, deciding not to reveal the things he had learned from Mortacai and because of it, the night went on as usual for him.

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Ginger: I figured my faithful readers wanted to see Mortacai again, Malachai's comic relief and book of souls. Anyway, thanks for reading guys! But FYI! I'm kinda getting desperate for reviews..... PLEASE?! PRETTY PRETTY PLEASE?! SOME REVIEWS WOULD BE NICE!


	6. A very Merry Christmas

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that has anything to do with code geass, not even if I wish upon a star.

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The month continued to pass by slowly and before long it was Christmas. The entire family got together at Midnightstar Sanctuary for the holdiday, everyone spending the night in their own rooms.

"Lelouch! Lelouch get up!"

"I don't want to dad." Lelouch yawned.

"I'm not your dad. You're father doesn't have a long furry snout and four legs, now get up!"

"Aldair, I don't want to get up." Lelouch grumbled, rolling over.

Aldair poked him again. "Come now Lelouch, get up." said Aldair.

"No, I'm happy in here."

"Lelouch, come on, get up."

"No Aldair, I'm comfy."

Lelouch gasped a little when he felt Aldair's weight on top of him.

"Now are you going to get up?"

"No."

Aldair poked him once more.

"Aldair stop!"

"Not until you get up!"

Lelouch growled as he opened his eyes to see Aldair's nose in his face making him jump up.

"What the bloody devil was that for Aldair?!" he snapped. "What have I told you about getting in my face in the morning?!"

Aldair starred for a moment before he burst out laughing.

"What? What's so funny huh?"

"You've been hanging around your father too much Lelouch. Only him and Braydon say something like that!" he laughed.

Lelouch glared. "Something like what?"

"Bloody devil." Aldair snickered. "Even I haven't used that phrase in years."

"Did I really say that?" Lelouch muttered.

"Yes, accent and all!"

"Well you don't have to laugh your ass off about it." Lelouch grumbled, standing up. He then walked over to his window and opened the curtains just to realize that he couldn't see anything outside. "Why is my window frosted over?" he asked bewildered as he touched the cold window.

"You forget that Malachai is an elemental master." said Aldair. "Every year he makes it snow."

Lelouch used his shirt sleeve to wipe away the fog just to see the beach covered in snow, most of the family outside having a furious snowball fight.

"What do you know, it is snowing." he muttered in surprise.

"Yes, now are you going to go join the others?"

Lelouch turned to see Quatre standing in the doorway.

"It's real snow?" he asked in curiosity.

"Yes it's real snow. Malachai decided that, just because we live in California, there's no reason for our family to go without snow on Christmas day." Quatre said with a smile. "Now why don't you get dressed and go join the rest of the family?"

Lelouch just smiled before running around to get dressed, then he ran outside to play.

"I was wondering when you were going to get up." said Leon with a smile when Lelouch walked outside.

"Aldair was taking your place this morning telling me to get up." he admitted.

Leon just chuckled and ruffled Lelouch's hair.

Lelouch just smiled before suddenly being tackled to the ground by Kit and Mercy.

"It's about time you got out here Louie!" said Kit with a laugh.

"Yeah, we've been waiting for you." said Mercy.

"I'm guessing it's a good thing that I put down a thick layer of snow?" Malachai asked with a smile, standing over them.

"It seems that way Malachai." said Leon with a smile.

Suddenly Malachai was tackled by someone and Lelouch sat up just to see Malachai face first in the snow with two other men piled on top of him and a woman sitting on top of them.

"I thought you learned to never turn your back at Christmas my dear brother." the woman said with a smile.

"Get off me guys!" Malachai snapped.

"Who are they?" Lelouch asked Leon curiously as he stood up.

"Malachai's siblings. You have to remember that Malachai was the first out of quadruplets." Leon pointed out. "Nicholai, Coralai, and Loralai. Don't ask. Their parents weren't exactly creative. So we just call them Uncle Nicky, Uncle Corey and Auntie Lori."

"And Mr. Malachai's the only one that can't shorten his name." said Kit with a smile.

Lelouch just chuckled watching as the brothers continued tackling each other. But then Suzaku hit him in the back of the head with a snowball starting another snow ball fight.

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After a while everyone went back inside to change.

"Now aren't you glad I made you get up." said Aldair with a smile as Lelouch changed his shirt.

"Yeah, thanks Aldair." he said with a smiled as he flopped onto his bed.

Just then there was a knock and Kallen peeked in the door.

"Hey Lelouch."

"Hey Kallen, what are you up to?"

"Nothing really." she shrugged. "I guess we haven't talked much though since we got here."

"I noticed that. But you do seem happier here." he said, sitting up as she sat down beside him.

"Of course, I can finally act like myself."

"The tough girl side?"

"Exactly." she said with a smile, making him laugh a little. "Are you excited?"

"Excited? For what?"

"It's Christmas eve. Tomorrow's Christmas day. Did you already forget?"

"I suppose I did." he shrugged with a chagrined smile.

"Yeah, so are you excited? It's kinda like our first real Christmas with a family that really loves us all isn't it?"

"Yeah it is, and it's the first time we've all gotten along in a while."

"I don't know who was going to kill who first when it came to you, me, and Suzaku."

"Yeah, there was a lot of tension between us wasn't there?"

"You think?"

Lelouch just chuckled. "There was a lot of tension between us too, don't forget."

"Yeah, I guess." she sighed, then she began to giggle as Aldair poked her side. "You're a poker aren't you Aldair?" she said with a smile.

"Only when I would like some attention." he said jumping up beside them.

"Oh, alright." She said scratching his nose with one hand and wrapping her free arm around him in a hug.

"I like her Lelouch, she holds me." Aldair chuckled making them laugh.

"How could I not Aldair? You're very fuzzy and cuddly when you're not bearing those fangs." said Kallen hugging him tightly and scratching his belly.

Suddenly they were all interrupted when Lelouch's stomach began to rumble.

"At least it's time for lunch." Kallen giggled as Lelouch turned a little red.

So the two of them headed downstairs to eat lunch with the family.

After lunch all of the kids and teenagers went back outside to play in more snow until it was time for them to go inside and sit together talking and laughing.

Inside Lelouch felt happy among his new family as he sat on the floor with the kids, Aldair in his lap, the guardians were sprawled out all over the place.

The little kids were all glued to the television watching old Christmas cartoons from long before their time.

Soon it began to get late and everyone headed upstairs and Lelouch sat on his bed, watching television until he drifted off into sleep.

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The next morning Lelouch woke up to see Sarah gently shaking him.

"Good morning Lelouch, it's time to get up."

"Already?"

"You're the only one that's not downstairs yet." she said with a smile.

"I am?"

"Yes, don't you want to see what you got in your stocking?"

"I get something?"

"Everyone did."

"Is there candy?"

"Yes, but save some room for breakfast of course."

"Well, yeah, but I'd like some sugar."

Sarah just chuckled and began tickling him making him laugh and twist around, getting him tangled up in his blankets.

"Now are you going to get up?"

"Maybe."

"If you don't all of the other kids are going to come get you and carry you down because your father said that they can't open their presents until everyone's downstairs and you're the only one missing."

"Oh alright, I guess I'll get up." he said, climbing out of his bed and tossing on some clothes in his closet.

"Oh cheer up and smile honey, it's Christmas." she said hugging him as he walked towards the bedroom door. She gently kissed his cheek to make him smile.

Instead he began laughing a little.

"Come on, downstairs with you." she said.

"Yes Ma'am." he said as they walked out into the hallway together. "Hey Miss. Sarah, are you and dad ever going to get married?"

"Shhh. It's a family surprise." she said with a secretive smile. "Quatre wanted to wait and surprise everyone. The only one that knows besides us now is you."

"Ohhhh! I promise I won't ruin the surprise."

"So you don't mind me being your Grandma?"

"I look at you like a grandma anyway." he shrugged. "And you're a wonderful grandma too."

"Aww, thanks Lelouch, that means a lot coming from you." she said kissing his cheek.

When they got downstairs Lelouch found all of the kids sitting and going through their stockings including Suzaku who was sitting next to Euphie. He quickly found a space next to Shirley, Leon, Suzaku and Sahara so she sat down beside them.

"I think you're going to have to wrestle for your stocking." said Shirley smiling.

"Why would you say that?"

"Your guardian's claimed your candy." said Leon smiling.

"What are you talking about? I don't have a guardian."

"You do now and she's digging in your stocking." said Suzaku with a grin pointing behind them.

Lelouch twisted around a little and saw a huge orange tiger with a red bow tied around it's neck, digging in the black and white stocking with his name on it.

"Hey, that's mine." he said reaching for it.

The tiger pulled it away with a playful growl.

"It's mine now." she giggled. Then she stuck her nose in it and came out with a wrapped piece of candy. "Ooh! Cashew cluster!"

"You can have that, I don't like cashews, but I would like the rest of my stuff." he said reaching again.

"Nope. You took too long to get here, it's mine now so I'm holding it for ransom."

Everyone just laughed.

"My stocking is being held for ransom by a tiger." he sighed.

"My name is Sandy." she said with a smile.

"Well Sandy, what are your demands because I would like my stocking."

"A nice scratch behind the ears."

"Sounds reasonable." he agreed.

"And a big hug, and a kiss on the nose."

"I think that's just too much now." he said, playing along. "The scratch behind the ears is easy, I can even do the hug, I don't know about a kiss though."

"Then I'm keeping the candy." she said sticking her nose back in the stocking.

But Lelouch surprised her when he grabbed her and hugged her around the neck while scratching her ears and giving her a big kiss on the nose.

"Now can I have it?" he asked.

"Maybe." she said slowly.

"Come on, I gave in to your demands." he protested.

"Alright, I suppose you can have it." she said, pushing the stocking towards him.

"Thank you." he said taking it, then he opened the cashew cluster. "And here's the cashew cluster I said you can have."

Sandy took it and happily chewed as she laid her head on his lap.

Lelouch just smiled and scratched her ears as he sorted through his stocking.

"At least I'm not finding teeth marks on anything." he said with a smile as he pulled out candies wrapped in brightly colored wrappers, little nick knacks and other small gifts

"At least you two get along." said Leon. "Topenga and I didn't got along very well for the first year or so. Miss Sakura used to get worried because we'd fight a lot and I'd get scratched up."

"You're a fighter aren't you?" asked Shirley.

"I didn't stop fighting."

"Until he almost broke my nose." finished Roderick , joining him.

"You two fight a lot, don't you?" asked Lelouch.

"Not really. We never fought very much as kids. We fought more as we got older." Leon admitted.

"I think it started when I joined the family again."

Leon just shoved him over without looking as he unwrapped a piece of chocolate.

"He's the violent one." said Roderick.

"Keep it up and I'll do my best to make sure you end up in the hospital for the rest of the night." said Leon casually. "I still owe you for about fifty different things."

"Grouch." Roderick muttered.

"Only when you're around." he replied with a forced smile.

"Be nice guys." said Nina gently nudging Roderick.

"He started it."

"Roddy, you're not six years old." she chided.

Roderick just huffed a bit and they moved over towards the Joe and the others.

"And that's exactly why I wouldn't mind having her as a sister in law." Leon whispered, making Shirley and Lelouch chuckle.

"Can I have another Cashew cluster please?" asked Sandy suddenly.

Lelouch dug in his stocking and found another one before unwrapping in and popping it in her mouth.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." he said scratching her ears as he picked up a pen, looking at it in curiosity. "My pen has hair." he mumbled, shaking it so that the rubbery strands flopped around.

"It's got a smiley face on it." Sandy giggled.

"That it does." he said with a smile. After a moment he folded himself over so that, even though Sandy was still resting her head and her paws in his lap, his upper torso was laying on her back. As he continued to dig through his stocking.

After a while it was time for everyone to open their presents and Lelouch was definitely surprised at how many presents everyone had.

"I can't believe you got this for me." said Shirley looking at a box of movies.

"I figured that now you can watch it when I'm not here." said Leon smiling.

"I wonder what this is." said Lelouch picking up a perfectly wrapped box from Miss Sarah. He shook it to hear a couple of soft thuds.

"Well, what is it?" Leon asked.

Lelouch ripped open the end of the wrapping and pulled out what looked like a covered shoe box.

"It's a pair of shoes." Shirley joked.

Lelouch opened the box to find a pair of black and white saddle oxfords.

"What do you know, I was right." said Shirley in curiosity.

Lelouch stretched over Sandy and put them on, smiling as he wiggled his toes. "I kinda like them."

"That style of shoes went out in the sixties. Like four and a half decades ago." said Leon with a grin.

"They seem to suit his style pretty well though." said Suzaku smiling.

"They look good on you." said Sandy honestly.

"I like them." Lelouch said again. "A lot."

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The rest of the day continued and when Lelouch returned home that night, he couldn't help but smile as he put everything he had gotten on his desk.

He had received everything from shoes, to more books, clothes, and knick knacks.

"I think I'm going to need a bigger bed if you two insist on sharing with me." Lelouch sighed, squashed in between the tiger and the anteater.

"Look at it this way, you'll never get cold." Sandy said with a smile.

"It's not that cold here Sandy." Lelouch pointed out.

"Well either way, it's late and you need your sleep." said Aldair, resting his nose on Lelouch's chest.

"I guess you're right Aldair." he sighed. "Goodnight guys."

"Goodnight Lelouch." said Aldair.

"Night Lelouch, sweet dreams." said Sandy.

Lelouch yawned as he got comfortable, then he quietly drifted off to sleep.

Ginger: Okay, finally, chapter 6 is here. sorry guys I've been super busy between moving and going on vacation. Anyway, I hope you all still enjoy reading this and like I said, I love reviews so I'd love more of them please! My usual thanks goes out to my faithful readers!


	7. Back to Normal Life, Or Maybe Not

Disclaimer: I don't own anything yada, yada, yada........ whatever..... okay so......

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With Christmas over, the month continued to pass by, New Year's somewhat uneventful, though there were rumors that Lloyd had gotten somewhat drunk and Braydon had been forced to play babysitter which was why the two of them weren't at the family gathering. Quatre and Sarah had finally gotten married and had happily disappeared for a week leaving the Sanctuary in the hands of the older children. But other then picking on Lloyd and being able to truly consider Sarah a grandmother, life returned to it's usual comfortable routine.

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Lelouch and Suzaku returned to school with their friends and daily life continued like clock work.

It was Saturday and as usual Suzaku was over at the Berkenbridge residence for the night, the two of them sitting out on the porch watching the stars as they talked.

"I never thought I'd say this, but I'm glad to be back in school. I was getting kinda bored." Lelouch admitted.

"I never thought you'd say that either." Suzaku said with a chuckle.

"Admit it, you're glad to be back in school too aren't you?" Lelouch said with a smile.

"Yeah, I suppose I am." Suzaku shrugged. "If only for the dodge ball games on Wednesday."

Lelouch laughed.

Just then they heard the sound of the front door closing.

"Dad's home." said Lelouch looking at his watch.

Sure enough Leon walked out onto the porch.

"What are you two doing out here at midnight?" he sighed tiredly.

"Talking." said Lelouch. But he looked at Leon closely.

Something seemed wrong.

"What's wrong dad?" he asked.

"Yeah, you don't look so good Uncle Leon. Did you have a rough day?" Suzaku asked as they moved to Leon could sit down.

"Something like that." he admitted, sitting between them.

"So….. What's wrong?" Lelouch asked slowly.

"I'm being transferred." Leon sighed heavily.

"Transferred? To where?" Suzaku asked.

"The George H.W. Bush. The newest carrier in the fleet."

"What's so bad about that? I mean….. I know you love the Stennis, but wouldn't it be nice to be on a newer carrier?" Lelouch asked.

"I don't mind the newer carrier. It's where the carrier is stationed."

"Japan?" suggested Suzaku with a chuckle.

"No, that's the George Washington. This one's in Norfolk."

"Where's Norfolk?" Lelouch asked.

"Where your grandma Kallie lives."

"In Virginia on the other side of the country?" asked Suzaku.

"Exactly. And I have to be moved out there in the next two weeks."

"But….. What about us? And Miss Sahara?" Lelouch asked, somewhat shakily.

He had to be honest, he didn't want to uproot himself now that he was comfortable, but he didn't want to be separated from his family.

"Sahara's going to see about a transfer, and you have an option. This house is still ours, I'll never sell it. You can stay here with your grandpa Ashtor, go stay at the Sanctuary, or else come with me."

"But….. What about my friends? And Suzaku?"

"What about me?" Suzaku asked.

"He's moving as well." said Leon.

"Wait?! What?! What do you mean I'm moving?!" Suzaku shrieked.

"You forget that your mother is assigned to my jet because she built it and since I'm the only one that can actually figure out how to fly the thing, it comes with me, and so does she."

"Does that mean Uncle Lloyd's coming?" Lelouch asked slowly.

"No, Lloyd stays here. And lucky you, since they picked several different groups to transfer and you associate yourself with such a small group of Stennis Brats, They're coming too."

"They're not brats." said Suzaku.

"Lelouch is a brat." said Leon with a smile.

"Since when?" Lelouch asked stubbornly.

"Since you became my son. You're what's called a brat. A military child. So, you're a Navy brat. Anyway, it's getting late and the two of you need to get to bed." he said standing up.

"Yes sir." they sighed in unison as they stood up.

"And I want you to think about whether or not you want to come with me Lelouch."

"I will." Lelouch said softly, then he headed up stairs to bed.

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But as the night wore on, Lelouch couldn't seem to sleep. So he decided to go downstairs for a snack.

Of course getting out of his bed was quite a challenge. He had to crawl out from under his blankets, move to the end of the bed, and climb over the footboard at the end. Then he had to sneak around Suzaku's bed without waking him, and tip toe around Jurri, before trying to get past Suzaku's guardian Sunny whom Suzaku had affectionately named 'Sunny Bunny.'

After he had finally made it out of his room, Lelouch headed downstairs to the kitchen.

But just as he opened the fridge: "Lelouch? What are you doing getting into the fridge at three in the morning?"

Lelouch jumped sideways at the voice, hitting his head on a shelf in the fridge door.

"Ouch! Dad?"

He looked into the dining room to see Leon sitting at the table playing some type of card game with a very dim light.

"What are you doing up so late?" Leon asked again without looking up.

"I couldn't sleep so I was going to get myself a small snack." Lelouch admitted, grabbing himself a pretzel roll and joining Leon at the table.

"I expected you to have trouble sleeping." Leon admitted. "It's a tough decision for you to make."

"What about you?" Lelouch asked. "Is there a reason you're out here playing solitaire at three in the morning?"

"I decided to just sit and think. Besides, I didn't want to disturb Sahara." Leon said honestly.

Lelouch picked up one of the cards and saw that it was the two of hearts, but it had a vintage looking picture of a tattered flag and it said 'we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain…… remember December 7th.' Then he picked up another one and found that it was the ace of clubs with another picture that said 'plant a victory garden.' "These are the weirdest cards I've ever seen."

"You're uncle Trowa sent them to me for my sixteenth birthday. Each card has a different poster from World War I or World War two. I've taken them with me on every deployment since."

"Well that's neat." Lelouch admitted, putting the cards away. "So….. Are you looking forward to moving?"

"Not really. I've been on the Stennis for all seven years since I started flying. I really don't want to leave it. Or this house for that matter. But I have no choice. You on the other hand, get to decide." he said as he picked up the cards and shuffled the deck. "Care to play a game of war?"

"Sure, why not?" Lelouch said with a shrug.

"So what do you think you want to do?" Leon asked, dealing the cards.

"I think I'm going to stick with you. I mean……. This is home yes, but….. It's not home without you, and Kit, and Mercy." he admitted as he picked up his cards and straightened them out.

"You never know, you might like it there. We've all talked about it."

"We?" he asked as the two laid down their cards, Lelouch winning with a five of hearts against Leon's three of clubs.

"Your friends' parents. We've decided to live about forty five minutes away in Yorktown." said Leon as they put down their next cards, Leon winning.

"Why? What's in Yorktown?"

"It's a historic district on the river. We could get you, Kit and Mercy each a bike, and you can ride around. There's all sorts of stuff around there to do. Lot's of history. Things like that."

"Will we ever move back here?" Lelouch asked curiously.

"Of course we would. I just couldn't guarantee when. I'll be honest though, I was debating on whether or not this would be my last sea cruise."

"What do you mean?" he asked as he took a bite of his snack.

"I think I may resign."

At that Lelouch choked a little.

"Are you alright?" Leon asked concerned, handing Lelouch his can of soda. "I didn't expect it to be that much of a shock."

"Why would you resign? I thought you loved flying." said Lelouch surprised.

"I do, but it's still dangerous. I mean, when it was just me alone that was one thing. Now that I have you and your brother and sister to take care of….. I worry that one day I won't come home."

"Why wouldn't you come home? Aren't you one of the best pilots?"

"That doesn't mean accidents can't happen. Last year I lost one of my friends during a training accident. He had been flying for thirteen years. We were just doing simple touch and go's, but the last one he came down a little hard and it messed up some of his landing gear, so when he took off and tried to land again, he went skidding across the tarmac and his fuel tank caught on fire. He left behind his wife and his three month old girl, and it reminded us that it can happen to anyone. I promised you that I would give you a better life, I can't do that if something happens and I die."

"I guess you've got a point." Lelouch said softly.

"That reminds me, I have to rewrite my will again."

Lelouch choked again.

"Careful Lelouch." said Leon finally smiling a little.

"Why do you need a will?" he gasped.

"As a precaution. We always have a will because our jobs are so dangerous. I'm not saying I'm going to die during this deployment, it's just a requirement, plus, if anything does happens, it get's rid of the confusion as to who get's what and so on."

"But why do you need to rewrite it?"

"Because you've joined the family, the last time I changed it was when I had just Kit, now I have you and Mercy as well."

"Oh, well I do feel a bit better. Hey, if you do die, can I have your computer?" Lelouch asked jokingly.

"Actually, since you're the oldest and you love it here so much, I was going to leave you the house."

Lelouch starred. "The house? Are you serious?"

"Yes. Why? You don't want it?"

"Well……. Not really because if it becomes mine that means you're gone."

"This is true, but we're speaking hypothetically here."

"Hypothetically then yes, I guess I would like to have the house. Who would you leave your plane collection to?"

"Probably the three of you. You'd have to share."

"I suppose that works." Lelouch shrugged.

"And you just lost." said Leon with a smile, taking the last of Lelouch's cards.

"Wow. That was sad." Lelouch sighed.

Leon just laughed a little bit. "Anyway, I think we've had enough of a serious talk for one night. You need to get back to bed."

"What about you?" Lelouch asked.

"I'll probably play one more game of solitaire before I go to bed." he said, setting out his cards.

"Alright then. Goodnight dad."

"Goodnight Lelouch."

Lelouch just smiled as Leon became absorbed in his game, then he headed back upstairs and snuck back into bed where he finally fell asleep.

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Ginger: yay! chapter seven is up! As usual, I do like reviews, so please! Review! I'm getting kinda desperate here! And like always, thanks goes out to my usual faithful readers!


	8. A conversation over a game of go fish

Disclaimer: I don't own...... yeah, we all know the story....

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Several days had passed since Lelouch had found out that they were moving to Virginia and, while he was somewhat excited to see someplace new, he was somewhat apprehensive. Each time he packed another box, he felt as if it may not really be worth uprooting himself.

But he continued on. Each night, getting very little sleep.

So on Thursday night, he decided to go down to the kitchen just to hear his father's voice from the dining room again.

"Lelouch, why are you up at two A.M. on a school night?" Leon asked.

"I still can't sleep." he admitted, grabbing himself a small yogurt and joining his father at the table. "What are you doing up playing solitaire again?"

"I can't sleep either." Leon sighed. "So then, what do you want to talk about and what card game do you want to play?"

"Go fish." said Lelouch.

Leon laughed a little. "Go fish? That's a children's game."

"So? I want to play go fish." said Lelouch with a stubborn smile.

"Brat." Leon chided.

"You bet I am." Lelouch said proudly, making Leon laugh even more.

"I want you to come on the Tiger Cruise this year. I think you'd like it."

"Tiger Cruise? What's a Tiger Cruise?" he asked curiously as Leon dealt out the cards.

"It's the last week of deployment where we can have a family member on board. You can see how the carrier works and everything."

"That might be interesting." he admitted. "Got any threes?"

"Go fish. Kit loved it last year. I'm sure you would like it a bit too. Do you have any sevens?"

"You never know, I might enjoy it. Go fish. Do you have any nines."

"Yes. And you would get to see just how stupid I really am to be doing my job." he said, handing Lelouch the card. "Do you have any threes?"

"I don't think you're that stupid. Just crazy." said Lelouch with a smile. "And go fish. Do you have any fives?"

"Go fish. Got any kings?"

"Anyway, new subject." said Lelouch handing Leon the King of hearts.

"Oh? A new subject already?"

"Yes."

"Alright, what about?"

"Well first of all do you have any aces?"

"Go fish. So what's second of all?"

"It's nice that grandma and grandpa finally got married."

"That's something of a scatterbrained question. Do you have any nines?"

"Go fish. And why is it scatterbrained?"

"It's just very random."

"So? Got any tens?"

"Yes, here. So, why bring up that subject?" Leon asked, handing him the card. "Is there something you're trying to hint at, and do you have any eights?"

"Yes. And maybe I am hinting at something. Do you have any fours?"

"Go fish. And please clarify. What are you hinting at?"

"Are you and Miss Sahara ever going to get married?"

"We've talked about it." he said honestly. "Do you have any queens?"

"Go fish. So what have you come up with? Do you have any jacks?"

"Yes. And right now, we just don't have the time to discuss much. We actually talked about it years ago. Got any nines?"

"Yes. And what do you mean years ago?"

"I've known Sahara for about fifteen years now. I dated her while she was in high school."

"Wow, I had no idea. Got any threes?"

"Go fish. Not many people knew. She was my only friend when I was a kid, though for the longest time I kept convincing myself that I didn't like her. Got any fours?"

"Go fish. So why'd you become friends? Do you have any fives?"

"Yes. For the longest time it felt like our mothers were trying to force us together. Then one day she just said, 'your as stubborn as an ass.'"

Lelouch starred. "She said that?"

"It got me by surprise too. I just looked at her and said 'what did you call me?' and she just giggled and gave me this sweet little smile and said, 'you're a stubborn headed mule. You're an ass. I kinda like you.' And it went on from there."

Lelouch couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Wow! And I thought it was weird that I met Tanya when she hit me in the head with her locker door."

Leon laughed. "What a nice way to meet a cute girl." he said snickering. "I was wondering why you came home with a bruise on your head the day you told me you made your first friend at school."

"Well, she was kind enough to apologize." Lelouch shrugged. "But that wasn't what we were talking about, don't change the subject!"

"I though we were done talking about Sahara and I? And do you have any sevens?"

"Go fish. No we weren't done talking about that. What happened? Why are you just now talking about marriage?"

"Well for one, we're only in our twenties."

"Forties for you."

"Hush! And number two, we lost touch for a while. After she joined the marines, she ended up being transferred to Virginia for a while. We didn't talk for about two years. Then she ran into at the hospital, quite literally. I will admit she's the nicest nurse there."

Lelouch laughed. "Do you have any kings?"

"Yes. My last card." said Leon. "It appears that you've won this game."

"Hey, I lost when we played war, so we're even." he said stubbornly, stacking his cards together. "Anyway, have you guys decided on anything?"

"Not yet. I don't think we will for a while. And it's almost three A.M. and you have school tomorrow. So go on, to bed with you now." he said, shooing Lelouch away.

"Yes sir." Lelouch said with a laugh. Then he got up, and threw his garbage away, putting his spoon in the sink. "Goodnight dad."

"Goodnight Lelouch."

Lelouch then headed upstairs and quietly crawled into bed.

"Do you usually sneak downstairs for hours at a time when you can't sleep?" Sandy asked softly and he curled up under the covers.

"Not really, I've just had a lot on my mind lately, and dad's been up late, so I've been going downstairs to talk with him and play a card game or two." he admitted.

Sandy giggled quietly as she gently nudged his cheek with her nose giving him a whiskery kiss.

"Goodnight Lelouch."

"Night Sandy." he yawned. Then he drifted off to sleep.

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Ginger: Yay! I'm finally getting back into my rhythm! Chapter 8 is done! Whoo! Anyway, the usual: write reviews, I continue to write the story, if you don't like it, don't read it, I didn't say you had to so don't be rude if you don't like it, if you do.... ALWAYS LET ME KNOW!!!!! I love people enjoying the story! As always: Thanks to the usual faithful readers!


	9. Dinner at our new homes

Disclaimer: as always, I don't own Suzaku and Lelouch.

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Before long, the two weeks had passed by and the family had gone on an insane road trip to make it out to Virginia where they had moved into an old historic two story house on the Yorktown water front nearly an hour away from NAS Oceana where Leon worked.

But Lelouch found himself quickly adapting comfortably to his new home. He now had a window bench instead of a balcony, but he still had a beautiful view of the river.

He was now enrolled at Grafton high school with his friends all being put in the same classes and to their delight, Braydon had joined them, promising that he would never leave his favorite students alone.

It turned out that he had quickly discovered that his best students were leaving and he had applied to Grafton high where they had over crowded world history classes since there was a shortage of world history teachers, especially honors teachers and so the small group of brats felt more comfortable then ever.

And of course, Grandpa Ashtor joined them as well.

"Are you happy here Lelouch?" Aldair asked as Lelouch continued unpacking on Sunday evening after dinner.

"Absolutely. I'm kinda excited to explore around here." he admitted, as he put up one of his posters.

"You're closer to your great grandmother now too. Kallie lives down in Newport News, near where your father works."

"And all of my friends are here, Uncle Braydon's here. Uncle Lloyd's here too unfortunately, but that'll at least make Mercy happy."

Aldair smiled as Lelouch sat beside him and scratched behind his ears.

"I wish I could go out to explore." Sandy sighed from her spot on the window bench.

"I know, but it wouldn't be normal to have a giant tiger walking around the river walk." Lelouch said kindly. "People would be scared. Maybe I can convince my Biology teacher to let me bring you for show and tell."

"Show and tell? You're not in elementary school." said Sandy with a giggle.

"This is true." said Lelouch with a smile.

Just then there was a knock on the door and Leon peaked into the room.

"Lelouch, is time for dinner." he said.

"What's for dinner?" he asked.

"Meatloaf and mashed potatoes."

"Cheesy without the baked on ketchup?" he asked.

"Of course. I hate baked on ketchup." Leon said. "Now, are you coming?"

And with that Lelouch ran out the bedroom door past Leon and down to the table where he took his seat on the side of the table opposite of Kit and Mercy.

"I see the three of you are ready for dinner." Leon said with a smile as he walked into dining room with the bowl of mashed potatoes.

"We're hungry daddy!" said Kit.

"Yeah, we've spent all day unpacking!" Mercy added.

"So are you three ready for your first day of your new school tomorrow?" Leon asked.

"I'm kinda nervous." Lelouch admitted, putting meat loaf on his plate. "If I didn't have my friends and uncle Braydon, I don't think I'd do so well."

"We're excited!" said Mercy.

"Yup! Really excited!" Kit said.

"What about you dad? Tomorrow's your first day of work." Lelouch pointed out.

"Well it doesn't matter to me really. The entire squadron could hate me, but they'll still have to do as I say." he said with a smile before taking a drink of his soda.

"I guess that helps." Lelouch shrugged. "So, when is Miss Sahara coming out to join us?"

"Three weeks. So we'll be all settled in before she gets here."

"Mitch likes it here." said Kit.

"Oh does he now?" Leon asked with a smile.

"Yeah! He made himself comfortable in our new playroom." giggled Mercy.

"He does seem comfortable here." Ashtor admitted with a smile.

"Well I'm amazed he moved here with us." Leon admitted.

"Did you really think he was going to leave his little playmates?" Ashtor asked. "Especially not after getting punched by Travis when we tried to catch him."

Lelouch starred. "Uncle Travis punched him?"

"Well they may of both been dead at the time, but they could still hurt each other. He freaked when Kit went to stay at his grandfather's and no one said anything." Leon admitted. "He made every door in the house fly open, he knocked things off the wall, and when Travis caught him at the base of the stairs, he tried to choke him. When he finally let go, Travis punched him in the jaw and knocked him to the ground."

"Uncle Travis sure was a violent one." Lelouch mumbled.

"You never saw him and Cameron fight." said Ashtor. "They were pretty much on a level battlefield, but the difference was that Cameron fought with brains, Travis fought with brawns. By the time Cameron thought up an offence Travis had already thrown the first punch."

"Oh, so it's like if Suzaku and I ended up in a fist fight. By the time I thought of a plan I'd already have a broken nose because he'd just attack." Lelouch said.

"That's exactly right." said Ashtor. "Of course your fights never ended up involving butcher knives and baseball bats. Travis could use a baseball bat like a sword and that's why he usually won in those fights."

"And everyone thought I was bad for dropping Roddy on his head? At lease I never took a bat to his head or a knife to his ribs." Leon sighed, shaking his head.

"It's still not nice to drop your brother on his head." Ashtor sighed. "Anyway, at least everyone seems to be settling into the new house easily."

And with that, everyone gladly changed the subject about how they were adapting to their new home.

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A couple streets away in a smaller one story house was Suzaku and Cecile who were very happy in their new home together.

"There now, that ought to do it." said Cecile putting away the last kitchen knick knack. "How does it look Suzaku?"

"Perfect." he said with a smile as they stood back to admire their handy work. "It looks a lot better now that we have a bigger kitchen."

"I think I'd have to agree." she said, hugging him and kissing his cheek.

Suzaku just grinned as he straightened his glasses before walking over to the table and grabbing another slice of the large pepperoni pizza they had ordered.

Cecile just chuckled at him.

"You've become a bottomless pit since you've changed back into a young teenager." she said. "That's your fifth slice of pizza."

"I'm growing again mom, I'm always hungry, can you blame me?" he asked with a smile.

"I suppose not." she said, shaking her head with a smile.

"But I can blame you for not giving me some pepperoni." said Sunny as she skipped into the kitchen.

Suzaku smiled down at the large white tiger. "A couple pieces of pepperoni aren't going to fill you up Sunny Bunny." he said with a chuckle.

"Who say's I need it to fill me up? I'm just like the taste of pepperoni." she said.

Suzaku just laughed a little as he peeled a few slices off of his pizza and placed them on her tongue.

"Thank you very much." she said, chewing as she hopped around a little. (hence the bunny name)

But then Jurri came up and tilted her head with a whine.

"I get the feeling my slice of pepperoni pizza's going to end up a slice of cheese pizza." he muttered with a raised brow as he peeled off a few more slices of pepperoni and gave them to Jurri. "Hey!"

Cecile just laughed as she took his last piece of pepperoni and ate it.

"That wasn't fair!" Suzaku protested.

"I know, but I couldn't resist." she said with a smile. "Anyway, finish up that piece. It's getting late and tomorrow's your first day of school so you better get to bed soon."

"Yes mother." he sighed, taking a bite of pizza.

He then finished his slice, and headed off to bed.

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Ginger: sorry it took so long to update. Anyway, hopefully more people will start reading. But as always, if I get reviews, I'll continue. The more reviews I get, the more I'll continue. Anyway, thanks to starlight luna who's become a regular follower, you keep this thing going! Thanks.


	10. The first day at a new school

Disclaimer: As always, I don't own Suzaku or Lelouch........Grrrr!

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"Come now Lelouch! Get up, you've got school this morning!" Leon sighed, shaking Lelouch awake.

"But daaaad!" Lelouch whined. "I don't want to get up!"

"Too bad, now you either get out of this bed on your own or else I pick you up and toss you into your shower!" he barked in his commanding tone causing Lelouch to flip out of his bed and land on the floor.

"Now I see why everyone is scared into following your orders." he sighed, sitting up and rubbing his sore head.

"Be happy it was me and not your grandpa Ashtor. His bark truly is worse then his bite." Leon growled. "For me, my bite is far worse then my bark."

"Then don't bite me, and I've never heard Grandpa Ashtor bark."

"He ran his hospital with ruthless efficiency. He had a nasty bark. Now then, hurry up and take your shower and get downstairs for breakfast, or else you'll miss your bus." he said, then he walked out of the room.

Lelouch sighed as he stood up and headed into his bathroom out in the hall.

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"Suzaku! Suzaku it's time for breakfast!" Cecile called as she knocked on his bedroom door.

"Coming mother!" he yawned as he stretched and ran a hand through his hair.

"Time for you to got to school already?" Sunny yawned.

"I guess so Sunny." he sighed. "Oh well, I guess it's better to get this first day over with."

"That's a good way to look at it." Sunny agreed.

Suzaku just yawned again as he grabbed clean clothes out of his closet, and headed to his bathroom to take a shower.

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After breakfast, Lelouch said goodbye to everyone before he headed outside and down the street where he met up with everyone waiting for the bus.

"I feel awkward." Tanya whispered, as her and Lelouch stood in their small group with Sharissa and DeShawn.

The four of them huddled close together while the other students starred, obviously knowing that they were new.

"Yeah, no kidding, it's like they know that we're the new kids." DeShawn whispered.

"I don't think I felt this awkward at Coronado high." Lelouch admitted.

"That's cause you started a school where half the kids are new because military brats come and go constantly. This time we're just….. Here. In the middle of the school year." Sharissa explained.

"I guess that's true." Lelouch muttered as the bus pulled up.

They let all of the other kids get on and noticed that they all headed to the back of the bus, so the four of them sat in the two front seats of the right side of the bus, trying their best to stay together.

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Suzaku and Luis on the other hand were the only two among a larger group, just a couple stops away, so they felt even more awkward then the others had.

"I don't like being the new kid." Luis mumbled, fidgeting with the strap on his back pack.

"I don't either." Suzaku admitted, feeling incredibly uncomfortable as the other kids whispered around them.

But as the bus pulled up the two of them let out a sigh of relief as they saw their friends in the front two windows.

After everyone else had boarded the bus, Suzaku and Luis climbed aboard, joining them.

"Did they stare at you guys while you were waiting for the bus?" Luis asked.

"Pretty much." Lelouch admitted.

"I can already tell that today's going to be a long, long day." Suzaku sighed.

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Soon, the bus arrived at school and when they got off the only thing running through their heads was:

"Does anyone know where our first class is?" Sharissa asked.

Everyone shook their heads.

"Well don't ya think we should figure it out?" she sighed, pulling out her schedule.

"I guess that would be a good idea." Suzaku agreed.

"We all have the same classes right?" Lelouch asked.

"Luckily, yes." Tanya admitted. "There aren't many honors classes, so we all just got put together."

"So, our first class is….. P.E. So…… who knows how to find the gym?" DeShawn asked.

"I guess we better start wandering around to find it, shouldn't we?" Lelouch sighed.

"And don't we need to figure out where our lockers are?" Tanya asked.

Everyone just groaned before walking around trying to find everything.

Gym class was just like it had been at Coronado high. The only difference was, it was snowing outside, so P.E. was definitely in the gym itself, no questions asked.

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"So what class now?" Tanya asked as the bell rang and they left the gym.

"History with Uncle Braydon." Suzaku sighed with relief.

"Finally, something familiar in this new place." DeShawn said.

So they headed back into the main building where they found Braydon's classroom down at the end of a side hallway.

"Well, I'm glad to see that the six of you are here." Braydon said with a smile.

"We're not the only ones in your class, right Professor Spencer?" Tanya asked.

"Of course not. They transferred several students from over crowded classes into here. Mind you It'll still be a pretty small class. You guys make up about half of the class."

"At least we won't be the one's feeling singled out this time." Lelouch admitted.

"This is true." Braydon agreed. "I know the other teachers appear somewhat uncertain of me at the moment."

"I guess they're not as widely accepting here as they were at Coronado high, are they?" Suzaku asked.

"This is true." Braydon said as they took their seats. "But then again, Coronado high was full of military children. If we were closer to Oceana and Norfolk, that would be another story entirely."

Just then they noticed two students cautiously peek into the room.

"Is…. Is this Mr. Spencer's class?" the girl asked nervously.

"Yes it is. Come on in, no need to worry, we don't bite." said Braydon with a reassuring smile.

So the two girls came in and found a seat in the back.

Before long five more students came inside and soon the class started.

"Well now, I'm finding it somewhat amusing that the new children in school seem more comfortable in here then the students that have been here for some time." said Braydon with a smile.

The seven new kids fidgeted in the back of the room.

"Since there are only thirteen of you total, you seven in the back might as well move up." Braydon said.

Everyone just scooted their desks back a little.

"Oh come now!" Braydon sighed. "I'm not going to hurt anyone. Come on, move up."

The other students quietly and nervously picked up their stuff and moved closer.

"There now, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

They shook their heads.

"They look like their scared of you Uncle Braydon." Suzaku chuckled, making Lelouch snicker. "Ouch!"

"Hey!" cried Lelouch as Braydon smacked them both on the heads with his attendance list. "Student abuse!"

"Oh shut up! You're both my nephews so it doesn't count!"

"Did Uncle Lloyd make you grouchy?" Lelouch snickered.

"Do you want me to tell your father that you're miss behaving in class?" Braydon asked.

"No. I don't feel like being barked at again. My head still hurts from this morning." Lelouch muttered, making his friends laugh.

"Anyway, would one of you guys care to explain where your class was in your lessons?" Braydon asked.

"We were on World War one." a girl muttered.

"The great war?" Braydon muttered. "I thought this was world history."

The girl shook her head. "American history. World history is in middle school."

"So I'm a Brit teaching American history? No wonder the other teachers were looking at me strangely." he muttered, making even the new students let out a nervous chuckle. "Anyway, no problem, we can handle this. But first, we might as well get to know you guys. If your wondering, these eight in front of you are from my class out in Coronado California, so we all know each other quite well. But we have no idea who any of you are. Care to introduce yourselves?"

"I'm Isabella." said one girl. "But everyone calls me Izzy."

"Ashley."

"Tucker."

"Luke.'

"Mellissa."

"Tommy,"

"Desiree."

"Wonderful. So now we have Izzy, Ashley, Tucker, Luke, Mellissa, Tommy, Desiree, Lelouch, Suzaku, Sharissa, Tanya, DeShawn, and Luis. A nice small class. So then, where in World War one were you?"

"We just started today." said Ashley.

"Well that's even better. It makes it much easier to start the lesson. But I would like to know why you all seemed terrified….."

"Our teacher told us that you were the strictest teacher ever!" Tucker blurted out.

Everyone starred. But then Braydon burst out laughing.

"I can assure you that I am in no way strict." he said. "Yes I can make my tests somewhat difficult, but that's because I care enough to challenge my students. But that's about the strictest I can be. You can just ask any of these guys."

"Yeah, he actually pushed one of our tests back by three days because he didn't feel like grading any." said Tanya with a smile.

"He likes to let us watch a lot of movies." said DeShawn.

"And he turns everything into a story." said Lelouch.

"And he jokes around more then any other teacher I've ever had." said Suzaku throwing a paper airplane at Braydon. "Of course, considering he's our uncle in a totally insane family, that's no surprise."

"Yes and if you want to throw another plane at me, I'll be sure to throw a spit wad at you." Braydon warned him.

"What are you, ten?" Lelouch sighed with a smile.

"No, I'm twenty nine, and I don't like to give homework, because I don't like to grade homework."

Everyone managed to laugh.

"So…. Are you from Great Britain?" Luke asked in curiosity.

"I was born in Cambridge, raised in London, graduated from Oxford." said Braydon with a smile.

"What did you go to school for?" Mellissa asked.

Braydon paused for a minute. "I…. honestly don't remember. I was a wood worker, then I joined the British Army for a while then I ended up here."

"You don't even remember what you went to school for Uncle Braydon?" Lelouch asked incredulously.

"In all honestly….. No. I'll probably have to go back and look at my diploma to remember."

"And yet Grandpa and Uncle Leon could give you every minor and major for their Associates up to their PhD which ends up as eight different subjects." Suzaku sighed, shaking his head.

"They don't count. Those two aren't normal." said Braydon stubbornly. "Anyway, I suppose we might as well start some form of a lesson, so you best get out your history books."

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And that's what everyone did.

Of course there were a few bumps along the way considering Braydon was having to teach an improvised lesson.

After that interesting lesson, everything else seemed to fit into place fairly well. The rest of their classes seemed to go by fairly easy with their new friends from their history class joining them and getting them comfortable in their new surroundings.

But all in all, Lelouch and Suzaku felt like their were beginning to fit in easier as the all headed home on the bus.

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Ginger: okay, I'm finally getting back on track with this story. Anyway, hope that the few of you reading this still enjoy it. But as always, let me know! I love reviews and the more I get the more I'll be happy to continue!


	11. A Very Unexpected Visit

Disclaimer: as always I don't own anything that has to do with code geass.

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It had been a long day at school and Lelouch felt relieved to finally be home. But he was surprised when he found Leon in the living room, stretched out on the couch, still in his flight suit.

"Hey dad, what are you doing home?" Lelouch asked cautiously.

"That squadron's a pain in the ass!" he snarled, covering his face with his arm.

Lelouch starred. "Are they really that bad?"

"They managed to piss me off within the first five minutes." he sighed. "I haven't been this grouchy in years. I almost punched one of them."

"So? You're like that with Uncle Roddy all the time." Lelouch shrugged.

"These guys make Roddy look like a well behaved little angel."

"Ouch." Lelouch said with a wince. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Captain Henderson sent me home early so I wouldn't break someone's nose." he admitted sitting up.

Lelouch just shook his head as he went to the kitchen to grab himself a snack.

"Just don't go disappearing on us here dad." he asked, returning to the living room.

"I won't. Promise." Leon sighed.

Just then the doorbell rang and they looked at each other in curiosity.

"Now who could that be?" Leon muttered in curiosity as he went to answer the door.

Lelouch just shrugged and turned on the television which was on the history channel as he started munching on crackers. But right as he got comfortable, Leon called him.

"Lelouch! There's someone here to see you!" Leon called from the door.

Lelouch got up, walked to the door and peaked around his father to see someone he almost wished that he would never see again.

"It's about time I found you Lelouch." said the green haired witch.

"C.C.? What are you….. How did you….. ?"

"I came to take you back home." she said reaching towards him.

But then something unexpected happened.

Leon lashed out with a nasty roar, blocking her and Lelouch looked up to see him changing suddenly. His hair rippled almost like a cat's fur when it's scared, and his eyes became dark as he growled bearing very long nasty fangs along with incredibly sharp claws that were almost like Aldair's teeth.

Lelouch quickly hugged Leon's arm tightly.

"Dad, it's okay!" he said, trying to reassure him. "She's not taking me anywhere. I promise."

After a few moments, Leon seemed to change back to his usual self and he shook his head, obviously confused about what had just happened.

"Maybe you should go lay down for a while dad." Lelouch suggested.

"I think that may be a very good idea." Leon sighed, then he left them alone in the doorway.

Lelouch quickly turned on C.C.

"What are you doing here?" he asked darkly.

"Now that I know you're alive, I came to take you home." she said.

"I am home C.C." said Lelouch. "I'm not going anywhere."

C.C. scoffed a little. "This place? This old house in who knows where? This is your home? And since when do you have a father?"

"Since I was rescued and adopted. I'm no use to you anymore C.C. My Geass is gone. I'm not even my old age. I had to serve redemption for the things I did to get this second chance, and I'm not going to loose it."

C.C. just gave him the cold blank stare.

Lelouch sighed. "Just come in. We'll go talk up in my room." he muttered.

So C.C. followed him inside and up to his room where Aldair was asleep on his bed and Sandy was dozing on the window bench.

But what astonished Lelouch was that Aldair had woken up so suddenly and immediately turned defensive towards C.C. roaring and baring his fangs waking Sandy and causing her to respond the same.

"Okay! Okay guys! Stop!" said Lelouch. "C.C. already got the animalistic growl as a welcome from dad, she doesn't need it from the two of you."

"She's not taking you anywhere!" Aldair snarled warningly.

"She's not going to, honest Aldair."

"But Lelouch…." C.C. began.

"And that's final C.C.!" he said sternly. "This is my home, this is my family, and I'm not leaving."

"I don't understand why you wouldn't." she muttered, looking at his pictures on his dresser.

"Give me one good reason why I should go back."

"Because you belong with us back in our world."

"No I don't. I felt I didn't belong anywhere, so I belong with the Midnightstar family. I have a dad, and two grandpas, two grandmas, a bunch of aunts and uncles. More then I can count really. I've got Sandy and Aldair, a baby brother and sister. Friends! I go to school and I feel normal. Well, I will once I get used to it here. Today was my first day because we just moved here." he admitted.

C.C. just sighed as she picked up the picture of six year old Lelouch and Suzaku sitting on Leon's shoulders grinning happily.

"Is that Suzaku?" she asked.

"Yes. Miss Cecile adopted him. Her dad is my grandpa Midnightstar. So Suzaku's my cousin now, and don't bother trying to make him leave because I doubt he'd go anywhere. Now then, while it's nice to have this little chat, you might as well head back to where ever because I've got a lot of homework to do tonight. My math teacher gave me six pages worth of problems, my English teacher wants me to have a rough draft essay done by Wednesday, and my Biology teacher wants me to finish the questions to chapter eight. Luckily Uncle Braydon decided not to give any homework."

"So that's it? You're staying here?"

"Pretty much." Lelouch said with a stubborn nod.

"I suppose I have no room to argue. But I would like to know how you got here."

"It's kinda hard to explain. Mortacai could probably explain it better."

"And how on earth would you get Mortacai here?" Aldair asked.

"Mr. Malachai made it so that I can summon him sometimes because I guess I'm one of the only one's that can take his attitude."

"That's for sure." the anteater mumbled, rolling his eyes.

"Who's Mortacai?"

"That you'll have to see to believe. Reverto ut mihi meus libri animus!"

Mortacai suddenly fell out of the sky and onto the floor.

"Hi Mortacai." said Lelouch with a smile as C.C. starred.

"You finally figured out how to summon me like Malachai taught you. Good job Lelouch." said Mortacai proudly. "So what did you need?"

"It's a talking book." said C.C. cautiously.

"This is Mortacai. The book of souls that belongs to the Master of the Angels of Death. Mortacai, can you show her exactly what happened and how I got here?"

"Of course I can. It's a lot easier to find you now that I know where to look." he admitted flipping through his pages. After a moment he found what he was looking for and opened himself up to the page with Lelouch's information on it.

C.C. kneeled down and looked at it in curiosity. "So…. You did die?" she asked softly.

"I guess I did." Lelouch shrugged.

"Redemption and a second chance? So that's why you're staying is it?"

"I'm a normal kid now C.C. There's nothing I can do for you anymore."

"If you say so." C.C. sighed, standing up.

"Lelouch, what did you mean your father growled at her?" Aldair asked curiously.

"I think I figured out why Captain Holloway said that he was developing a psychotic temper." Lelouch admitted. "It was kinda freaky. He just started changing. He had these big fangs, and huge claws, and he let out this crazy roar."

"That's odd. That's sound like Malachai's old friend Lucilius when he would develop a temper." Mortacai said.

"Mortacai? Do you know anything about Lucilius's knight Sarafi?" Lelouch asked.

"How did you find out about her?" Mortacai asked in curiosity.

"It's a long story."

"Well they say she was banished with Lucilius. She was an odd one though. I believe she was having a bit of a love affair with Malachai before he fell to earth."

"Yes I do seem to recall that." Aldair sighed. "Anyway, she was considered Lucifer's first creation gone wrong when she was granted admission to heaven by the Great Creator because she began protecting mortals. Lucilius was almost given a guardian status when he spent fourteen years keeping a young man alive instead of retrieving his soul for constantly attempting suicide. I believe that would be your Uncle Braydon."

"Am I the only one confused by this?" C.C. asked.

"No, I'm pretty lost too." Lelouch admitted.

"Ask Braydon about it." Aldair said as he got up and stretched. "Now then, I'm getting hungry, are you going to feed me or not?"

"Fine." Lelouch muttered, rolling his eyes with a smile.

"So there is no way to convince you to return with me is there?" C.C. asked.

"Nope. Sorry. You're welcome to come visit and say hello once in a while though."

"You've become somewhat strange." C.C. said, starring at him.

"So I keep hearing." he said. "Anyway, I better go feed Aldair and Sandy. I'll be right back."

Before he could say anything more, Sandy dragged him downstairs.

But after making sure they had their lunch, Lelouch ran back up to his room, just to find C.C. gone, and Mortacai still sitting in the middle of the floor.

"Where'd she go?" Lelouch asked in curiosity.

"I don't know. She just disappeared." said Mortacai.

Lelouch just sighed and shook his head, wishing he could've at least said goodbye.

"I better start my homework Mortacai. Mind if I bring you back later?"

"Not a problem." said Mortacai. Then he disappeared as well, leaving Lelouch to sit and do his homework, wondering why C.C. had wanted to take him back with her.

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Ginger: okay, I'm finally getting back into the swing of things with this story. As always though, give me reviews and I will continue. So hopefully you guys will keep reading and keep enjoying.


	12. Tap Dancing in the Rain with Sea Lions

Disclaimer: I don't own Lelouch......

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Lelouch couldn't help but constantly think about what C.C. had told him. But soon he was too caught up in his homework to really worry.

Later in the evening he went downstairs and made dinner for everyone realizing that Leon was still sleeping.

But as it got later and Kit and Mercy went to bed, Lelouch decided to go sit outside on the swing set and think about his day.

"I wonder why C.C. wanted me to come back?" he thought to himself as he starred at the ground. "Well it's not something I could help with much anyway."

He just sat in silence for a while as he gently swung a little bit, staring at the ground. But then he heard the soft crunch of snow as someone walked outside and before long he saw two very large shoes in front of him.

"What are you doing out here Lelouch?" Leon asked softly as Lelouch looked up at him.

"Thinking." he muttered with a shrug.

Leon sighed and shook his head.

"I want you in the house Lelouch." he said sternly.

Lelouch starred. He couldn't figure out why Leon was being so stern with him all of the sudden.

"But… why?" Lelouch asked.

"Because it's far to cold for you to be out here. Back in San Diego, that was one thing. It didn't get so cold. It's twenty eight degrees out here and I don't want you getting sick."

Lelouch didn't say anything, he just starred and the ground.

"Lelouch." Leon sighed. "Please get in the house."

"But I don't want to dad."

"Oh come on!" Leon growled. "I'm not going to argue with you! Don't make me pick you up and carry you into the house."

"Why are you so stern and grouchy all of the sudden dad? First your bark at me this morning, now your growling at me to get into the house, what's gotten into you?"

"I'm tired, I'm stressed, and besides, you need to learn to get up on your own in the morning. Soon you're going to have to take care of yourself in the morning when Sahara has to leave early. But I don't want you getting sick on your first week here. Come now, into the house with you."

"Yes sir." Lelouch sighed, standing up. Then he dragged himself into the house and upstairs where he took a warm shower before changing into his around the house shorts and shirt, before he wandered downstairs where he found Leon sitting on the couch watching some old movie.

Well, he thought he was watching it, but when Lelouch got closer he realized that Leon was drifting off on the couch.

So he shrugged and went to get himself a bedtime snack just to hear, "getting into the fridge so early? I thought you normally waited till after midnight."

Lelouch turned to see Leon watching him from the couch.

"But I don't feel like staying up as late." he shrugged.

"I guess that's a good thing." Leon sighed. "Look, I'm sorry I'm getting so strict all of the sudden. I get the feeling that I'm bringing work home with me, and that's not a good thing."

"Well, maybe if you can't leave your Commanding officer side at work, you should try and find something else to let your stress out."

"Well, when I used to get stressed out, I'd go fly. But my planes are still in the hanger in California, and it's too cold to go running outside."

Lelouch just sighed as he munched on crackers and dip. "So…. What are you watching?"

"A movie that would suit your perfectly."

"Oh? And what movie would that be?"

"Singing in the rain." said Leon with the smile. "And I'm right at the part where Gene Kelly goes running around, dancing as it pours."

Lelouch couldn't help but laugh.

"I guess that sounds a lot like me." he admitted.

"Yes it does."

Lelouch just smiled as he joined him on the couch. "Care for a cracker dad?" he asked, holding out the box.

"Sure, why not?" Leon shrugged before taking a couple of crackers. "So… that friend of your's earlier…."

"She said I don't belong here and that I should go back with her. I don't think she realized how happy I am here. She said nothing was wrong back in our world. I think that's why she wasn't overly persistent."

"Well I'm glad you're staying here, despite the fact that I'm getting somewhat crabby."

Lelouch just chuckled a little. "Hey, I get cranky too sometimes. I just don't know how to bark."

"And maybe it will be best if you don't learn. I think two barking dogs in the house is enough, between your grandpa Ashtor and I."

"I guess I'd have to agree with you on that one."

"I'm glad your staying though. Kit and Mercy will need you when I leave. I got lucky in a way, transferring, I got an extra three months."

"You hate this squadron, don't you?" Lelouch asked.

"When I started flying, I always wanted to fly for the top hatters. They were the first squadron to fly tomcats. Now, I'll be honest, I miss my black knights. I went from getting the top pick of the new pilots, to now getting what's left at the bottom of the barrel."

"You'll figure something out dad. Even if you have to bare your fangs. Just do what you did to C.C. earlier and you'll scare them into following every command."

Leon finally laughed a bit. "That's true. Only, I don't know how I did that. Anyway, why bother talking about my life? Have you figured out what you're going to do with your life?"

"No. I've tried to think about it but…. I still have no idea what I want to do." he shrugged. "Maybe I'll be like Uncle Roddy and train animals. Maybe I'll train sea lions."

Leon chuckled. "You can train sea lions, just don't be like your uncle Roddy, please."

"Well I didn't mean that I'd actually be like him." he said with a laugh. "I just meant career wise."

"Good because I don't think I can take another Roderick in the family."

Lelouch just smiled. "Maybe if you ever show me why you fly, I'll fly too. Or maybe I'll be a teacher like Uncle Braydon. I don't know yet. Maybe I'll….. I don't know…. Learn to tap dance like the guy in this movie!"

Leon laughed. "That's quite an idea there. Of course if you ever did want to dance, I know just the person to send you to."

"One of your pilots dance?" he asked with a chuckle.

"No, you're uncle Trowa does swing and tap. He's a national champ."

"I didn't know there was such a thing as an actual dance competition."

"It's not exactly broadcasted on television. But that's why we pick on him. He's a tap dancing assassin."

"A tap dancing assassin? Could this family get any weirder?"

"Hey, don't knock the swing dancer. He's got some impressive skills." Leon said honestly with a smile.

"I'll remember that if I for some strange reason, decide I want to learn how to tap dance in the rain. Who knows? Maybe I'll try tap dancing in the rain with a sea lion?"

Leon just chuckled and ruffled Lelouch's hair. "Get to bed Lelouch. You've got school in the morning."

"That sounds like a plan." Lelouch yawned. "Goodnight dad."

"Goodnight Lelouch."

Lelouch got up and put away the crackers, then he headed upstairs where he immediately went to bed and fell asleep.

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Ginger: okay, it's one of my pointless filler chapters, but I couldn't resist. Though for Starlight Luna's information. C.C. just found him, but didn't really need him to go back. It was more like a cameo appearance. Anyway, hope you guys keep enjoying. Let me know and keep reviewing please!


	13. A Girl, A hickey, and A sneeze

Disclaimer: I don't own Lelouch......'sigh'

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When Lelouch returned home he felt terrible. His nose was so stuffed up he could hardly breathe, and to top it off, he found out that Tanya like someone which made him worry, because he really liked Tanya, he just wasn't sure how to say anything.

This was not his day.

As he walked into the house, he kicked off his shoes at the front door before walking into the living room where he found Leon dozing in the large recliner.

"Dad…. Dad…" Lelouch muttered, poking him awake.

"What Lelouch?" Leon muttered, yawning as he stretched.

"I.. ah…" he paused… "I…. ACHOOO!" he sneezed.

Right on Leon's face.

Leon just starred with a grimace before wiping off a bit of thick green snot.

"Oh Lelouch, that's gross!" Leon groaned as he reached for a tissue to wipe his face with.

"Sorry dad." he muttered, sniffling as he wiped his nose.

"What did you need Lelouch?" Leon sighed, wiping his face.

"I ah…. Achoo!"

But he sneeze was caught when Leon held the tissue to his nose.

"Thanks dad." Lelouch muttered, slightly embarrassed as Leon wiped a bit of snot off of his face.

"So, you woke me up why?"

"I'm…. confused." he muttered, sitting on the arm of Leon's chair.

"And this would differ from any other time how?" he sighed.

"Well I kinda need some advice….."

"On what? How not to catch a cold when you sit outside while it's snowing?"

"No on… life…. And friends….. Girls…"

Leon paused and starred for a moment.

"Girls?"

"Have you ever thought that you were in love with your best friend, but you weren't sure if they felt the same about you?" he asked.

"I believe that's something you would be better off calling Shirley about." said Leon with a chuckle.

"Okay……. I doubt she'd have the time because she's got a boyfriend. She's probably hanging out with Greg right now. Anyway, I would rather get my advice from my dad."

"Well….. I'm guessing this has something to do with Tanya." he said slowly.

"Yeah…." he admitted. "I heard her talking to Sharissa today about this new kid in class that she thought was cute and I felt like I was getting kinda….. Jealous."

"Well….. The only thing you can do is tell her."

"But what if she ends up laughing at me….? I don't even know if she likes me."

"Well now you know how Shirley felt for a long time."

"Dad! I'll apologize and tell her I'm sorry for being a jerk and leaving her in the dark okay? But right now……"

"Well I didn't mean you had to go that far. Anyway, Tanya's the type of girl that you won't know about unless you ask. She keeps her opinions to herself because she doesn't want to be embarrassed."

"So I'm just…. Stuck."

"She's not going to be like Sahara and just flat out say 'I like you,' you won't know, unless you go and ask. If you really like her Lelouch, you'll have to fight for her."

Lelouch said nothing, he just looked down at the floor.

"Isn't she coming over tonight because Braydon paired you two up for a project?"

"Yes…."

"Well then, that would be the perfect time to talk to her. Just, try not to sneeze on her face when you tell her."

"I'll try my best." he said with a smile.

"Good because then I really doubt Tanya would want you if you sneeze in her face."

"Thanks dad." said Lelouch with a smile.

"What for? I just told you the obvious." he shrugged.

"Thanks for telling me the obvious when I couldn't see it." he said with a smile, then he headed upstairs .

A couple of hours later, Lelouch was laying on his bed drifting off when Tanya came in.

"Hey Lelouch, don't tell me you slept instead of doing the research for our project." she chided.

"Nope, I did the research, it's all printed out on my desk." he said, pointing to a small stack of papers.

"Oh. Wow. So then, are you ready to start on our project? I brought the project board."

"I guess…." he muttered, stretching.

"Hey, how's your stuffy nose?" she asked, sitting on the bed beside him.

"Better, it cleared up after I sneezed all over my dad's face."

"Ewww! You're poor dad!" Tanya laughed.

"Yeah, he forgave me though."

"That's good. You seemed kinda disappointed earlier. Was everything okay?"

"I guess I'm kinda stuck." he muttered.

"On what?"

Lelouch sighed, unsure of how to explain it.

"Well…… I kinda like this girl, but I don't know if she likes me, and I don't know how to ask her. She's really shy, and she's not the type to really say anything."

"Oh well, if it makes you feel better, I like this kid and I don't know if he likes me either."

"Really? Who?" Lelouch asked in curiosity.

"You first." she said with a smile.

"No, you first." he protested.

"Why?"

"Because….." he paused. "I want to know who I'm competing against for your affection."

Tanya starred for a moment then she smiled.

"Lelouch, there's no one that you have to compete against." she said honestly. "Because I like you!"

Lelouch couldn't help but stare in surprise.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"But…. I thought you said you liked some kid in our class."

"I like you! Sure that new kid is kinda cute, but he's nothing like you."

"I would hope he's not like me. I don't think there's anyone like me." he said with a chuckle.

"And that's why I like you, cause no one else can come close to being like you."

"Well that's comforting." he said, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Soo….. Since we like each other….."

"What?"

"Shouldn't we maybe…. Go out on a date?" she suggested.

"Oh, good point. How about Saturday? We can go down to that little restaurant on the water front?"

"The place with those really good cheese burgers?"

"Yeah."

"Well I think that would be a good place to have a first date." she agreed. "I'm glad we finally admitted this to each other. Now I don't have to worry so much."

"Agreed."

Tanya just giggled then, she kissed him.

Lelouch felt himself melt when their lips touched. It was something new he had never felt before, and it was a fantastic feeling.

She giggled when he let out a somewhat drunk hiccup.

"Wow…." he mumbled.

"Maybe we should….." he began, but she interrupted him with a kiss. "Start on…" another kiss. "Our project."

"I suppose you've got a point." she sighed. "Then again, uncle or not, I highly doubt Professor Spencer will give us a reprieve on our project if we didn't finish it because we were too busy making out all night."

Lelouch turned red. "I highly doubt it." he admitted. "So we might as well get started."

"Good idea. I brought markers!" she said proudly.

Lelouch starred.

"For the project!" she sighed.

"Just making sure." he said.

So the two of them got up and began working on their project about major battles in World War I.

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Several hours later Lelouch woke up after they had finished their project, and dozed off together.

He yawned and stretched before getting up without waking Tanya then he went downstairs hoping to find Leon.

But tonight, the living room was dark, only Aldair and Sandy's soft snoring could be heard.

So Lelouch went upstairs and peeked into Leon's room where he found his dad quietly drifting off in the dark.

"Hey dad," he mumbled, poking Leon awake.

"Well Lelouch?" he yawned. "Did you ask her?"

"Yeah." he admitted with a smile.

"And I'm guessing she said yes." he asked with a chuckle as he sat up.

"Yes."

"Did you get your project done?"

"Yes dad."

"Good."

"I guess Tanya better be getting home soon." he muttered, looking at the clock.

"I took the liberty of calling her parents, and they already said she could stay the night, especially because a nasty storm in moving in right now. They're saying we supposed to have at least eight inches of snow. Tomorrow will probably be a snow day."

"A snow day?" he asked curiously.

"Yeah. A snow day means no school, and I won't have to fly. I'll just call in." he said with a smile.

Lelouch chuckled.

"Hey, how come Sandy and Aldair are asleep in the living room?" he asked.

"I was kind enough to keep them from ruining your fun. By the way, you might want to stick with high collared shirts for the next couple of weeks." he mumbled.

Lelouch starred. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you might want to look in the mirror." Leon said, hinting as he pointed to the side of his own neck.

It was then that Lelouch realized what he was getting at. He ran over to the mirror on Leon's dresser and turned his head to the side just to see a big red mark on the right side of his neck.

"Oh man!" he sighed as Leon laughed.

"She got you pretty good didn't she?" he asked with a chuckle.

"That's not funny dad!" he growled.

"Well, I was just giving you a heads up." he said.

"Thanks." he mumbled.

"Well, either way, snow day or not, you best get back to bed." he said.

"Alright." he said. "Goodnight dad."

"Goodnight Lelouch."

Lelouch went back to his room where he found Tanya putting her markers away.

"I should probably get home, it's after nine." she said.

"Dad said he called your parents and they said you could spend the night. I guess there's a really bad snow storm on it's way."

"I can tell."

Sure enough, after a moment of silence, Lelouch heard the wind whipping the branches of the tree around outside of his window.

"Yeah, that sounds pretty bad outside." he admitted as he sat down beside her..

"Well at least I don't have to worry about getting through the snow." she said with a smile.

"Good thing it means I have to wear a scarf." he said with a smile.

Tanya blinked in curiosity and Lelouch pointed to the big red spot on his neck.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" she giggled. "I didn't mean to make it that bad!"

"At least if we have a snow day tomorrow I have three days before everyone else finds out." he said with a smile. But then he yawned. "I think dad's right, we should get some sleep."

"Agreed." she said.

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Ginger: I figured Lelouch and Tanya were starting to look like a cute couple so I figured why not, and don't you just hate it when someone sneezes in your face and it's that really thick green snot full of gross boogers? Ewwww!!!! Sorry for the disgusting visualization. Anyway, as always, the more reviews the happier I'll be writing this story. Thanks to Starlight Luna, and a welcome back to Imaginedreams22. Thanks for reading!

So Tanya took the bed, and Lelouch curled up in his swing and they both drifted of sleep while the storm continued to howl outside.


	14. A surprise and a snowball fight

Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with code geass.......... damn it!

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When Lelouch woke up the next morning, he felt wonderfully content curled up against Tanya.

But he soon decided that it would be best for him to get up, even if he didn't want to. He quietly snuck out of the bed without waking Tanya before getting dressed and looking out the window.

It looked like a true winter wonderland. Everything was covered in a thick blanket of snow.

After a moment of admiring the white scenery he headed down stairs where he found Leon making breakfast in the kitchen.

"Morning dad." he yawned as he scratched the back of his head.

Leon chuckled. "Good morning Lelouch."

"So… no school today?"

"No school today, you've got a three day weekend."

"Yes!" Lelouch said happily as he twirled around, making him laugh.

"Anyway, where's Tanya?"

"Sleeping. Where's Kit and Mercy?"

"I decided to let them sleep. They might as well conserve energy for now because after breakfast, I'm sure they'll be outside in the snow."

"I know I'll be." he admitted with a smile.

"Well, your green haired friend came back. When I asked why, she said you told her to come say hello more often."

"Well, I did say she could come visit since I'm not going back." he muttered.

"Well, I told her you were still asleep, so she left leaving a very special guest."

"Oh?"

"They're out in the living room."

Lelouch wasn't sure what to think. To be honest, he was afraid of who he would find waiting for him. But when he walked out into the living room, he heard a wonderfully familiar greeting that made happiness wash over him, giving him a warm fuzzy feeling.

"Hi big Brother."

Sitting on the couch was Nunnally.

"Nunnally," he sighed, relieved, walking over and gladly giving her a tight hug. "Ouch!"

"Well that's what you get for making me think you had died." she said stubbornly after hitting him in the shoulder.

"Hey, I thought I had died too!" he said in his defense. "I didn't think I would be saved by the retired master of death, okay?"

"You can't be my big brother." said Nunnally with a giggle. "You're too big!"

"Too big? Are you calling me fat?" he asked with a fake gasp.

"No, I'm saying you've gotten bigger. Taller, with more muscle."

"I got a second chance to grow up again." he admitted. "I was shrunk to the size of a toddler and I spent five months growing up again. I may be your big brother, but now I'm younger. I'm fourteen now."

"Fourteen?"

"Yup." he admitted, sitting beside her. "So…. What are you doing here?"

"Miss C.C. brought me. She said you were alive and she wanted to know if I wanted to see you. So I of course, said yes."

"Well you're in luck. Today's a snow day so I don't have school."

"A snow day?"

"It snowed so much last night that several roads have been shut down. Welcome to my home in Yorktown Virginia. We just moved out here."

"We?" she asked.

"Yeah. I was adopted. I have a dad who has a girlfriend, and there's Kit and Mercy, the two little guys, more aunts and uncles then I can count, and a few cousins."

"So you're happy here?"

"Afraid so Nunnally." he admitted softly.

"I'm going to guess that you have a girlfriend?" she asked with a small smile.

"How'd you guess that?" he asked curiously.

"She left her mark on your neck."

Lelouch let out a gasp as he covered the wonderful red hickey on his neck. "Yeah….. We didn't intend for that to happen." he mumbled embarrassed as Nunnally laughed.

"Well it did."

Lelouch just smiled, happy to see Nunnally's smile again. But then he noticed something.

"Hey, where's your wheelchair?" he asked in curiosity,

"Well I figured if I got my vision back, maybe I could get my mobility back too. I have to have crutches, but I can at least get around on my own." she admitted with a smile.

Lelouch grinned proudly and hugged her tightly. "I'm glad you're doing better Nunnally. So…. Is the world really a better place without me?"

"It seems to be that way. You did a good thing. But I still miss you." he admitted.

"I miss you too Nunna. But you can always come visit."

"I think I'd like that." she said honestly. "You're still my big brother right?"

"As long as you'll always be my little sister?"

"Forever." she said with a smile.

"Welcome to the Berkenbridge family." he said with a smile.

"Berkenbridge?"

"Yup. I've got a new name now." he admitted.

"But you're still Lelouch right?"

"Of course I am. Lelouch Alistair Berkenbridge."

"Alistair?"

"I took dad's original name." he admitted.

Just then he heard the sound of four little feet running down the stairs into the living room.

"Hi big brother!" said Kit and Mercy pouncing into his lap.

"Good morning guys." said Lelouch hugging them tightly.

"Who's the lady big brother?" Kit asked curiously.

"This is my little sister Nunnally. Nunnally, meet Kit and Mercy."

Kit immediately scooted over into Nunnally's lap. "Hi Miss Nunnally!" he said, hugging her.

"You don't have to call me Miss. I'm barely out of middle school." she admitted with a smile.

"Okay." he giggled.

Just then Tanya walked down the stairs with Leon Ashtor.

"My girlfriend and my grandpa." Lelouch said with a smile.

"Tanya's your girlfriend now?" Mercy asked. "I thought you were best friends."

"That realized we really like each other." he said with a smile, touching noses with her.

"I'm gonna try and pounce on Grandpa." said Kit with a smile, then he hopped down and ran after Ashtor, only managing to grab on to his leg.

"That's not exactly a pounce young man." he chuckled with a smile.

"But you're so big grandpa! I can't reach!" said Kit stubbornly. "Mercy can't either!"

Sure enough, Mercy was clinging to his other leg.

"What are you two doing?" Leon sighed with a smile.

"Trying to pounce on Grandpa Ashtor!" said Mercy.

Lelouch just smiled and joined them, but he pounced on Leon's back, wrapping his arms around Leon's neck, his feet dangling over a foot in the air.

"It takes so much effort just to jump this high." Lelouch sighed with a smile making Leon laugh.

"The advantage of being over seven and a half feet tall." he said, grabbing Lelouch's forearms.

Suddenly Lelouch found himself flying upside down through the air, just to land on his feet in front of Leon.

"That was awesome! I have no idea what the heck happened, but it was awesome!" he laughed childishly. "Can I do that again?"

"I've never seen someone that made our father look tiny before." Nunnally said in awe, standing up with her crutches and walking over to them.

Lelouch laughed as Leon lifted him with little effort and set him on one very broad shoulder.

"Kinda makes you wonder how he fits in his plane." Tanya said with a smile. "And thank you for asking my parents to let me stay over last night Mr. Berkenbridge."

"You're quite welcome Tanya, and I'm glad the two of you finally decided to get together."

Lelouch and Tanya both turned bright red.

"I was wondering why Lelouch has a hickey on his neck." Ashtor chuckled.

"What's a hickey?" Kit asked curiously.

"Something you're not old enough to know about." said Leon, ruffling Kit's hair with a smile. "Now, why don't we all eat some breakfast, then we'll all go play in the snow?"

So with everyone agreeing, the breakfast table was full, Nunnally easily fitting in with Lelouch's new family.

After breakfast was finished, everyone went outside, Nunnally borrowing one of Lelouch's thick coats, and one of Leon's extremely large scarves to keep her warm as everyone went outside.

Lelouch found himself feeling happier than ever as he ran out the door first, just to sink up to his shins in the snow which made him laugh when Tanya joined him before she tackled him, sending them both tumbling to the ground sending snow flying into the air.

Soon Lelouch, Kit and Mercy were in a furious snow fight and Nunnally watched with laughter as her and Tanya sat on the swings.

Leon and Ashtor were watching from the porch with smiles as Kit and Mercy pummeled Lelouch to the ground with snowballs.

"I can't believe I lost to two six year olds." he sighed from his spot in the snow. He blinked though when he saw Suzaku's smiling face above him.

"You're right, it is sad when you loose to a couple of six year olds." Suzaku laughed.

Lelouch just swung his leg up, catching Suzaku in the side and sending him tumbling to the snow beside him with a laugh. Then he sat up to see all of his friends, plus his Uncle Trowa of all people.

"Hi Nunnally!" said Suzaku with a smile when he sat up and saw her sitting on the swings. "Did you come to join the family?"

"I'm visiting. But I didn't know you were here Suzaku." she said with a smile.

"Let's see, there's me, Suzaku, Shirley, Kallen, Lloyd, Miss Cecile's now Suzaku's mom." Lelouch said.

"I can see that." Nunnally admitted.

"This family keeps adding weird people." DeShawn sighed.

"Hey, my baby sister's not weird." Lelouch interjected.

"Who's Lloyd?" Sharissa asked.

"Suzaku's former sociopathic boss." said Lelouch.

"And Professor Braydon's boyfriend." said Suzaku with a chuckle.

"No way?! Professor Braydon's gay?!" Luis asked in shock. "He always seemed straight to me."

"Yeah well Uncle Roderick looks like he'd be gay but he's got a girlfriend." Lelouch pointed out.

"Sounds like our tap dancing assassin here." said Leon walking over to Trowa with a smile. "What are you doing here Trowa?"

"I was staying with Grandma and Grandpa and I wanted to say hi." Trowa shrugged.

"Do happy feet uncle Trowa!" Kit and Mercy giggled.

Everyone laughed as Trowa began tap dancing in the snow.

"Now for the funny part." Leon muttered. Then he lifted Trowa nearly a foot off the ground by the back of his shirt.

But Trowa's feet kept moving.

"Well, dad's right, if I ever want to tap dance, I know who to go to." Lelouch muttered, with a chuckle making Suzaku laugh.

"What a family." Suzaku sighed, falling onto his back in the snow with a smile.

Lelouch just laughed and did the same.

"So ahh…… I see you and Tanya were making out last night." Suzaku said softly as the rest of the family continued with the snowball fight.

Lelouch felt his face getting hot, despite the freezing weather.

"So you two are dating now right?" Suzaku asked.

"Yeah. I'll be honest though, I'm amazed Euphie never got you."

"She has, trust me. Remember that big band-aid I had on my neck? I said Jurri accidentally scratched me?"

"Yes…." he said slowly.

"Euphie left this huge red spot right there. After I realized what she had done, she laughed and told me it was a reminder that I'm her guy and that I better not fall in love with another girl while I'm out here."

Lelouch just laughed whole-heartedly, Causing Suzaku to start a wrestling match in which everyone joined.

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Nunnally was easily accepted into the family, and into Lelouch and Suzaku's small group of friends making Lelouch feel better then ever.

He had his home, his family, his friends, his girl, and now he had Nunnally back in his life.

That night, Nunnally stayed in the guestroom and down the hall Lelouch fell asleep feeling peace envelope him once more.

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Ginger: okay, I'm finally getting back on track, a couple more chapters, then we'll finally get to the exciting part of the story! Whoo! Anyway, thanks to the usuals that keep reading. AS always, the more reviews I get the faster I'll write! Simple as that! Thanks again guys!


	15. Sparkly vampires and a strange illness

Disclaimer: I don't own Lelouch at all...

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Ginger: Okay guys, sorry I took so long to update, I've been super busy lately and I kinda got out of my writing routine, so bear with me, this chapter probably isn't as good as usual, it's kind of a random filler chapter and more of it will be explained in chapters to come, but I felt it was wrong to keep leaving everyone in the dark. Enjoy!

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It was a simple weekend and it was a wonderful one. But soon Sunday came around and that night, Lelouch found himself feeling slightly under the weather.

His body got achy, and at dinner he hardly ate. He found himself crawling into bed that night, feeling like he was coming down with the flu.

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The next morning as Leon got everyone ready for school, Lelouch found that he was in no condition to even get out of bed, let alone go to school.

"Lelouch, what's wrong?" Leon asked softly as Lelouch pulled the blanket around his neck.

Lelouch didn't say anything, he just felt so sore, and nauseous he wasn't sure what to say. He felt a gentle hand on his forehead as he let out a harsh cough.

"That's quite a fever you've got today. That's no ordinary cold." Leon sighed, gently wrapping the blanket around him.

"I…. don't wanna…. Go to school….. Today dad." he grumbled between bone racking shivers.

"No school for you, I promise." Leon said with a kind smile.

Lelouch just let out another bout of harsh coughs in response.

"Let me get the little ones ready for school and have Grandpa take them to the bus and I'll be back in to check on you okay?"

"Okay."

Lelouch curled up even more under his blanket. He felt awful as he continued coughing and his fever made him sweat. He got so hot he tried to kick his blanket off first but then he felt the cool air hit his skin and he tried to pull his blanket back on.

After several minutes of dealing with his blanket he found himself tossing and turning and soon he found himself rolling off of his bed and into Leon's arms.

"Careful now. We don't need to you to break something rolling out of your bed because you're ill." Leon said, gently picking him up and keeping him wrapped in his blanket.

Lelouch just let out a tired groan as he curled up against his father's chest.

"Let's get you into a bigger bed so you can't roll out."

Leon carried him down the hall to his room where he put Lelouch in his bed and covered him up with his thicker blanket in the much colder room.

"Why's it so cold?" Lelouch shivered, pulling the blanket around him.

"Because I close the vent and keep my window's open. But it'll help you feel more comfortable so you can stay wrapped up in your blanket."

"Doesn't mom complain about the cold?" he asked before coughing again.

"No. Now quit talking and get some rest." he said, tucking Lelouch in. "I'll come in to check on you in a little bit."

"Do I have to sit in here?" Lelouch asked, "I'll get bored."

"You'll get bored? You're supposed to rest."

"Can I have a book?"

"I don't know which book you'd want to read. How about I let you watch a movie?"

Lelouch let out another cough as he tried to think. "I want 'bedknobs and broomsticks' please."

Leon just chuckled and shook his head.

Soon Lelouch was dozing off watching the old movie feeling much more comfortable surrounded by the fluffy blanket and cold air of the room.

But a couple of hours later Lelouch woke up to feel like his bones were on fire and his throat was so sore but he couldn't stop coughing and his mouth was horrible dry. His gums seemed to ache as he felt an incredible nagging to chew. His head pounded with pain, especially right behind his eyes, he was getting nauseous again. Today just wasn't his day.

"Getting worse are you?"

Lelouch looked up to see Leon watching him closely, worry etched across his face.

"I feel horrible dad!" he managed to croak with his sore throat.

Leon kneeled down beside him to see him better. "Open your mouth."

Lelouch starred. "Why?"

"Just do it."

Lelouch opened his mouth so Leon could look.

"You've got quite a set of fangs growing on you."

Lelouch closed his mouth and starred at Leon in curiosity as some of the pain began to disipate.

"It seems by the time you're feeling better, you'll no longer be human, you'll be whatever it is that I am." Leon sighed scratching the back of his head. "You're starting to look like Alan."

"Who's Alan?"

"My son Alan. He's thirty five. I still have yet to figure him out, I don't remember the day he was born, but he's quite obviously related to me."

"I have a brother named Alan?" was all Lelouch could say.

"He doesn't come around very often, he's an FBI agent in D.C., anyway, the point is, you're changing, that's why you're ill."

"I don't want to change, I like being a human." Lelouch protested as more of the pain quickly started to diminish.

"Well you obviously have no choice in the matter. We'll just have to try and get you as comfortable as possible for now."

Lelouch just grumbled under his breath as Leon sat down on the opposite side of the bed. "How long will it last?" he asked.

"No clue. Hopefully not long considering how fast you're changing. Half of your hair is white now."

"So I'll be picked on." Lelouch sighed. "Can I dye it back to it's old color?"

"You can try, it's not going to help much. The color disappears after a day. Sorry."

"And you said I have fangs?"

"You look like a vampire. But I suppose that's not too bad considering the latest 'vampire craze'." Leon chuckled.

"I'm no sparkly gay vampire." He growled making Leon laugh.

"No, I suppose your not. Those 'Twilight' vampires make you look as tan as your mother and that's saying something."

"Ouch, Thank God Tanya's not into those books. So what else is changing?"

"You're eyes."

"I don't see me with blue eyes." Lelouch muttered.

"They won't be blue, I can assure you." Leon yawned, stretching out.

It was then that Lelouch realized something. "How come you never take off your glasses?"

"Habit."

"You sleep with them?"

"Occasionally."

"Why?"

"As I said, habit." he admitted, closing his eyes.

Lelouch reached up and snatched Leon's glasses.

"Now that wasn't nice." Leon mumbled, keeping his eyes closed.

Lelouch looked at him with a raised brow, then he looked at Leon's glasses and realized there was little distortion when he looked through the lenses. He looked up at his father to see that he appeared to be asleep.

"Dad."

"Hmm?"

"Are you falling asleep?"

"A little. I'm tired. May I have my glasses back?"

"Why?"

"Because I would like them back." said Leon glancing at him.

Lelouch let out a yelp as he almost jumped off the bed.

Leon's eyes were no longer that light periwinkle blue that he was so used to. They were now a deep, animalistic yellow."

"Now can I have my glasses back?" he asked again.

"Why are your eyes yellow?"

"Because that's what color they are. My friend Conner made these glasses for me, they create an illusion to make it appear that my eyes are a relatively normal color."

Lelouch just starred. "So… that's what color my eyes are turning?"

"Essentially yes."

"Damn it! I _am_ turning into a pale sparkling vampire!" he sighed, burying his face in the pillow.

"Well I'm sure we can get you a pair of glasses that will make it look like your eyes are normal."

"Please do."

Leon gently ran a hand through Lelouch's hair. "You'll be fine. I can assure you that the pros far outweigh the cons of this."

"Being associated with a vampire fan club is a con dad. A serious disadvantage."

"No. no, there's other things that it's good for. Like you can see in the dark. You'll have a slight case of day blindness, but that's simple enough to fix. But you won't run into anything at night. You'll have perfect hearing, The ability to chew through anything. One of the best ones, you can understand every language in the world."

Lelouch blinked in curiosity. "Understand every language?"

"Yes. It's something I find quite handy. You hear someone speak in another language your brain turns it into the language you speak best, mainly English for us, and we can respond back in the same language. It'll come in handy when you start taking a foreign language class."

"I will be able to speak every language? That's….. kinda cool. What else will I be able to do?"

"Hard to say until you're feeling better." he said honestly. "Until you're older and you've grown into every thing. I heard that Alan can make door's to other times and dimensions like Malachai. Maybe you can too."

"Cool! Portals. At least vampires can't make portals."

"You're not turning into a vampire. A form of a human demon yes, but no vampire."

"So I'll just live up to my title of the demon emperor of Britannia yes?"

"Better then sparkly vampire." Leon told him.

Lelouch just let out a heavy sigh. "Very true." he agreed, curling up beneath the blanket.

"Are you feeling any better?"

"Getting there." he admitted. "The pain slowly goes away a little at a time. But it's going away all the same."

"That's definitely an improvement."

"Yes, yes it is. But now the nausea's gone and I'm getting hungry."

Leon chuckled as he got up off the bed. "Alright, I'll go get you something to eat."

Lelouch watched as Leon left the room.

"Great, so now I'm not human, what else can happen in my life here?" he sighed to himself. He got up and hobbled over to the mirror on his mother's dresser, wrapped in his big blanket. He clamped his mouth shut so he wouldn't scream.

His hair was now white and blue at the roots and the color was slowly creeping towards the end of each hair. His usually pristine violet eyes now had pools of amber that appeared to seep into the rest of the violet irises at a snail's pace. He opened his mouth to find four very long, very sharp fangs where his canines once were.

But to make him feel a little better about himself, Lelouch noticed that his once pale complexion was actually gaining some extra color making him look far from the pale skin of any vampire.

"Maybe with luck dad will be right and the pros will far outweigh the cons. It would be kinda cool to speak every language in the world." he told himself. "At least I'll still look human."

With one last heavy sigh, Lelouch climbed back onto the bed and laid back down wondering how his life was going to be, now that he was going through such a drastic transformation.

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Ginger: okay guys, like I said, short and kinda sucky, I haven't really written much in the last couple of months, but I'll get better and this will all be explained later. Promise! Anyway, reviews are always appreciated! And thanks to those of you that have still stuck with me after all this time! You guys rock!


	16. Meeting Alan: Insanity in a nutshell

Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with code geass, damn it.

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Ginger: Okay, I'm finally getting back in my rhythm of writing. Whoo! Anyway, we're about to meet Alan and figure out a little more about what Lelouch is now, and he's no sparkly gay vampire I can assure you all. This is Alan's introduction into the family, I hope you like him all, he's a little wacko, but you get used to him, just like Lelouch and Suzaku will have to. Anyway, enjoy!

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It had been nearly a week since Lelouch had turned into something relatively close to his father.

He now had amber eyes hidden behind a pair of special glasses so everyone thought his eyes were still violet. His hair was now white with blue streaks just like Leon's and huge fangs that made him want to chew constantly.

Lelouch now kept something rubber to chew on with him at all times so he would stop chewing on his pencils at school. Of course, most of his teachers thought he was dozing with his head on his desk as he'd duck behind Suzaku's back to chew on his rubber toy.

Of course Braydon on the other hand enjoyed picking on him, but he was so familiar with the new kids in the class everyone just laughed and carried on with the lesson.

But as he was slowly getting used to his new physical attributes, one thing kept coming to mind, and finally as he sat eating breakfast with his dad on a sunny Saturday morning while the rest of the family was out, he voiced a question.

"Will we ever meet Alan dad?" he asked curiously.

Leon peeked over the side of his paper to get a good look at him.

"I suppose you will." he shrugged.

"When?"

"I couldn't tell you. Al is married to his girlfriend, his tiger, and his job. At least he's ditched the alcohol mind you."

Lelouch starred for a moment. "Alcohol?" he asked before taking another bite of his cereal.

"Al was something of a borderline alcoholic for a while. Of course, with him, it wasn't how often he drank, it was how much he'd drink on the occasional chance that he got his hands on some beer. He's much like Braydon, he wanted to know that there was someone in the world that would love him, but didn't feel obligated to love him by family ties. Other then that and his maniacal laughter, he's … relatively….. Normal…. Kinda."

"Kinda? Why kinda?" Lelouch inquired slowly.

"You'd have to meet him." Leon sighed. Then he looked at his watch. "Actually, I have to go up to D.C. to meet an old friend today, why don't I give Al a call, maybe you can spend the day with him, get to know him."

"Do I want to be left alone with someone that has a diabolical laugh?"

"You won't be alone, Alayna will be there."

"Alayna?"

"His girlfriend, she normally keeps him in line."

"Right….."

"Hurry up and finish, we'll have to leave in an hour. Why don't you ask Suzaku if he wants to come along for the adventure?"

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And with that Lelouch was in the car with Leon and Suzaku as they drove up to D.C.

Apparently Alan had an early shift that day, so Lelouch and Suzaku were to be dropped off at the FBI building where they would spend the day with Alan until they met Leon for dinner.

"So, how long has Al worked for the FBI?" Suzaku asked as they walked through the J. Edgar Hoover building with their visitor's badges on.

"Oh goodness, about twelve years. He joined right out of college." Leon admitted as they climbed the steps to the third floor.

Lelouch was about to ask another question when they heard the loud thud of running footsteps and an insane maniacal laughter from behind.

They jumped out of the way just in time for a blur to rush past them and dart into an office at the end of the hall, slamming the door shut behind it.

"What the hell was that?" Lelouch asked as everyone else went about their business.

"That my dear boy, would be your brother Al." said Leon with a grin.

Lelouch and Suzaku both exchanged worried glances as Leon led them down to the door that the blur had run into.

When they walked into the office though, they were surprised to find three desks but only two people, one was a young man with sandy brown hair, and the other was a young lady with black hair and brown eyes.

"Hey Mr. B! What's up?" the woman asked with a smile.

"Hi Mr. Berkenbridge," the man said shyly, it was obvious to Lelouch and Suzaku, he wasn't Alan.

"Where's Al?" Leon asked.

The young woman rolled her eyes with a grin and pointed to the empty desk with her pen.

"Where he usually is after his run through the building." she said.

It was then that they heard a childish giggle coming from under the desk.

Leon walked over and pounded on the top. "Al! Get out here, your brother and your cousin would like to meet you."

Just then a strange man popped up, with grey hair and yellow eyes, and the same height as Grandpa Ashtor, a foot shorter then his father.

"Hi guys!" he said cheerfully. Then he began to laugh evilly.

Lelouch and Suzaku slowly began to back out of the room.

"And I thought I had some evil laughter back in the days of overthrowing my dad's empire?" Lelouch muttered under his breath.

"You're laugh was nothing. You apparently didn't learn form a master like him." Suzaku whispered back.

"Don't worry guys, he's not really evil, though he did make his little brother Greg think he was going to grow up to be a murderer with that laughter." the woman told them.

"I don't think that made them feel any better Alayna." Alan said with a chuckle as he plopped down in his chair and put his feet up on his desk.

"For someone that works Homicide you're awful cheery." Suzaku pointed out.

"It's how I keep my sanity."

"I didn't know you had any to begin with." Leon muttered sarcastically with a raised brow.

"Aw dad, that hurts my feelings." said Alan, playfully pouting at his father.

"No, it doesn't. I know you better then that. Anyway, You promised to take the boys for the day."

"So I did."

'Hopefully they're not going to leave us alone with him for the day.' Lelouch thought to himself.

"Are you staying with them Alayna?"

" 'Fraid not Mr. B. I've got a concert with a girlfriend to night." said Alayna.

"And what are you up to Victor?" he asked the shy man.

"I've got a date with Isaac tonight." he said with an embarrassed smile.

"Isaac? As in, the shooter on my carrier? Lieutenant Isaac Midnight?"

"That's the one."

"He finally came out of the closet dad, and we're oh so proud of him." said Alan with a grin. "Really, we are. Anyway, the kids are stuck with just me for the day."

'Well that hope just flew out the window.' Lelouch sighed inside.

"Then do me a favor and do your best to refrain from any type of behavior that will make them embarrassed enough that they won't want to be associated with you as a family member." Leon told him sternly.

"I think I've already done some permanent damage. You guys should see the looks on your faces!"

"Are you sure we're related to him dad?" Lelouch asked slowly. He really wasn't too sure of the man.

"Sometimes I wonder, I really do." Leon admitted.

"I know you do, but DNA testing confirmed it so ha! I win!" Alan laughed.

"He's like Gino….. Only…. Bigger." Suzaku whispered in Lelouch's ear.

"Gino doesn't run around scaring people with his laughter." Lelouch whispered back.

"Anyway, let's go guys, I gotta feed Chloe before I do anything else today." said Alan jumping up and tossing everything into his messenger bag.

"Chloe?" Lelouch asked.

"You'll see."

"While your at it Al, why don't you and the boys take Chloe to the park, she been wanting to go out for a while now." Alayna told him.

"Got it, see at home Alayna. Come on guys."

"Please keep Al out of trouble for us." Leon said as Alan ran out of the room.

"If we can't where can we find you?" Lelouch asked.

"Yeah, if he get's too crazy, we need to know where to run away too." Suzaku added.

"If you need any help just call me. But he's not that bad."

"He had three cups of coffee this morning Mr. B." Alayna pointed out.

"I stand corrected. If he get's bad, just…. I don't know…."

"Slap him upside the head." Alayna finished.

"His head's to tall to reach." Suzaku pointed out.

"Tell him if he does anything stupid and I find out I'll tell you two about the time he got to be one of Braydon's magical experiments, he'll know what I'm talking about." Leon stated, "Now you two better catch up, he's probably down at the entrance by now."

So Lelouch and Suzaku ran after him and soon they were sitting on the train with the man scrunched in among the regular commuters.

"These people don't appear to be surprised by your height." Lelouch pointed out looking at the people on the train.

"A lot of these people live here, they're used to me, even if they don't know who I am." Alan admitted. "I see you look like dad."

"I don't know why though." Lelouch admitted.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it with time."

"What am I now?" he asked, knowing that Alan probably knew the answer.

"Well you don't appear to be half human like me, that's why my hair's grey. You must've turned into a full demon like dad."

"So Uncle Leon is a demon?" Suzaku confirmed.

"Absolutely. His real name is Alistair Lucilius Hadrian. King of the lower demons of Hell. After the high elder caught him, they banished him to earth to be reborn a half mortal with most of his memories locked away."

"Alistair Lucilius Hadrian? So then…. What's your full name?" Lelouch asked.

"Alan Conrad Hadrian. Yours?"

"Lelouch Alistair Berkenbridge."

"I like that name." Alan said thoughtfully. "And for the record, I'm really not as crazy as people say I am, I just like to act that way to scare others. That's what happens when you grow up with thirty other kids."

"You go crazy?" Suzaku asked.

"Kinda. My foster father's a six hundred year old sorcerer that dad had to keep track of, he's been adopting kids since 1882. My oldest brother is Harold, he just celebrated his 138th birthday last month, and yes he's still alive, and oddly enough, he looks like he's only in his late sixties. My faster father looks like he's only thirty."

"How old's your youngest sibling?" Suzaku asked.

"My youngest sibling is my baby sister Dafina. She's four. The kids in my generation are A.J. B.J., C.J, D.J., E.J, J.C., J.R., and R.J., Laura, Isaac, Clara's my psychiatrist, Maria, Danny, and Sarah. A.J, B.J., C.J., and E.J. are simply known as 'the quints.' J.C. writes murder mysteries, Laura's a wedding planner, Isaac is one of the shooter's on dad's carrier."

"And I thought our family got complicated?" Lelouch sighed, the names making his head hurt.

"Just wait. See I was adopted by the Midnight family. My foster father is Conner Midnight. When the Midnights and the Midnightstars get together this year for the family reunion like Grandpa and my foster father are planning, it'll get crazy."

"So how many brother's and sisters do I have because of you?" Lelouch asked.

"We're into the hundreds little bro. Braydon's our brother too."

"If Braydon's your brother, why do we call him uncle?" Suzaku asked.

"Got me, he calls dad, well, dad too. Didn't you notice?"

They both shook their heads.

"Weird. Maybe it's because dad doesn't remember. But he took Braydon in when he was thirteen. He lived with him and took care of him for fourteen years! Braydon's totally our brother! Travis is kinda like our brother too."

"Travis? As in…. Travis Ashtor? Uncle Travis?" Suzaku asked stunned.

"Well he'd almost be more of a brother in law."

"Aunt Abby?" Lelouch asked.

"No, because Braydon and Travis used to be together. Though they didn't tell many."

Suzaku and Lelouch starred in surprise.

"Uncle Travis is gay?" Lelouch asked in amazement.

"Not gay, Bisexual. He helped Braydon come to terms with his own Sexuality to be honest. That's why they're still so close. It's just that Travis eventually married Abby and Braydon…. I don't know what happened to Braydon."

"He's married to Suzaku's former sociopathic boss Lloyd." Lelouch pointed out.

"After all this time he went completely gay? I wasn't expecting that, but good for Braydon." Alan said with a nod. "So do you guys have girlfriends?"

"I have Tanya." said Lelouch.

"I have Euphie." said Suzaku.

"Cool, cool, so you guys obviously know I'm a little nuts, but I have no idea what you guys are like, and I'd really like to get to know my little brother and my cousin after all."

And that was the start to quite a train ride indeed.

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Ginger: Okay! Chapter 16 is done, This is just the start of their day with Alan, It'll get crazy trust me! Alan's all fun, and when others pout about it like Lelouch and Suzaku will, he'll drag the along for the ride, literally. Thanks to my faithful readers for sticking by me, you guys are awesome! Reviews are always appreciated thanks!


	17. A day with Al

Ginger: Sorry it took me so long to update, I've been running into a lot of writer's block, and lots of crazy issues lately. But thanks for reading guys. I hope you keep reading.

Disclaimer: I of course, don't own code geass, but Alan is definitely mine.

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It had been quite an interesting train ride indeed as they finally got off at a stop and followed Alan to a large apartment building downtown.

"Okay, so judging by what dad said, you probably won't be too surprised by Chloe, but be advised, she jumps on you like a dog, and she's a real kisser." Alan warned them as he unlocked the door to his apartment.

Lelouch and Suzaku glanced at each other, they seemed to have a pretty good idea of what was on the other side of the door.

Sure enough…..

"WELCOME HOME AL!" came a loud cheery roar.

Lelouch and Suzaku stepped aside just in time for a large orange and black tiger to jump between them and out into the hall before she turned around and ran back into the apartment pouncing on Alan.

"Hey Chloe, I came home to get you some lunch." Alan said, rubbing noses with her.

"Chloe's a tigress?" Suzaku asked with a smile. "She reminds me a little of Sunny."

"Chloe's my sweetheart." Alan grinned, rubbing her side. Then he kneeled down and started making kissy faces with her as he rubbed the fur on her cheeks.

Chloe ran her large tongue right across Alan's face with a loud slurping sound making him laugh.

"What would you like for lunch silly?"

"I would like orange chicken and fried rice please!" she purred.

The boys laughed.

"Well then lets take a walk to the park, then we'll stop for some food." said Alan clipping the leash on her.

Before Suzaku and Lelouch could say anything, Alan and Chloe led the way running out of the apartment, leaving the door wide open.

The boys looked at each other.

"Al! Did you grab your keys?" Suzaku called down the hall.

"No!" came the answer.

"Talk about absent minded." Lelouch sighed, looking around for Alan's keys. "Are you sure he doesn't have his keys?"

"He said no." said Suzaku, looking on the coffee table.

Suddenly Lelouch's phone rang, so he looked to see an unfamiliar number. He answered with a slow, 'Hello?"

"Sorry, I've got my keys on me, they were in my coat pocket. Now hurry up! Chloe and I are downstairs!"

Before Lelouch could say anything Alan hung up on him.

"Really? Really? He had his keys this whole time!" Lelouch sighed, face palming.

"Come on, let's go." Suzaku grumbled, locking the door.

The boys just shook their heads then headed downstairs where they found Chloe in the apartment lobby, laying on her back, several children rubbing her stomach.

"Your keys were in your jacket pocket, really Al?" Lelouch sighed.

"So I'm absent minded, can you blame me?" Alan asked innocently with a shrug.

"Yes, yes we can," said Suzaku matter of factly. Then he jumped up and smacked the man on the head. "Dork!"

"Ouch! I'm not a dork." Alan retorted, rubbing the back of his head.

"You're right Al, he's not a dork Suzaku." agreed Lelouch.

Suzaku starred at him with a raised brow.

"He's a looser." he pointed out.

Both boys just laughed as they walked out of the apartment building.

It was interesting taking Chloe to the park, she seemed to enjoy running around with the children but then they took her to a Chinese restaurant where the owner seemed to adore her, giving her a nice big dish of food that she ate sitting at Lelouch's feet while they all ate lunch.

But after taking Chloe home, that's when the boys knew that their day was about to take an insane turn, between the snow storm heading in, and hurricane Alan that was about to blow through.

"Slow down Al!" Suzaku called as he and Lelouch tried to haul themselves up the stairs of the Lincoln memorial.

"And here I thought you were an exercise nut?" Lelouch panted as they both plopped down on the top step, trying to catch their breath.

"Whose the looser now huh?" Alan laughed at them. "At least I'm not passing out."

"We don't all have inhuman strength here Al." Suzaku sighed.

"Actually we do. Just not to his extent." Lelouch pointed out with a sigh.

"How do you run up the stairs at your size?"

"I chase after killers, I'm used to it." Alan pointed out. "You should meet my little brother Suzaku, he could run rings around most."

"Oh my God! There's another Suzaku? That's not normal to have two Suzaku's in a family." Lelouch sighed.

"How do you think I feel?" Suzaku muttered.

"His last name is Sanchez." Alan explained.

"Sanchez?" both boys asked in unison.

"His dad was third generation Mexican American, his mom was first generation German American."

The boys exchanged curious looks.

"That's not normal." Suzaku muttered.

"Of course it's not. You're forgetting that my family makes yours look normal. Alright, so we've had our rest, let's go!"

"Go? Go where?" Lelouch asked.

"To go say hi to Travis and Cameron. Or at least, what was left behind when dad took them. Come on!"

Before the boys could even ask, Alan took off down the stairs.

"Al! You're gonna fall!" Lelouch called, hoping his older brother wouldn't slip on the wet marble and go head first.

But the warning was too late.

Alan slipped, fell forward and tumbled down a few steps, just to somehow gain enough balance to do a front handspring and land feet first on the next platform leaving everyone starring.

"I'm okay!" he called back up to them, waving.

Lelouch and Suzaku just starred, slack jawed at the odd man below them.

"He's gonna kill us Suzaku! We're going to die before the day is over!" Lelouch panicked, grabbing the collar of Suzaku's jacket and shaking him violently.

"Calm down Lelouch, if he's going to kill anyone, he's going to kill himself." Suzaku said, trying to reassure him.

"He can't kill himself, he's half immortal." Lelouch pointed out. "Dad said he once took a bullet to the head and he still arrested the killer before going to the hospital."

Lelouch couldn't help but laugh when he saw Suzaku's eyebrow twitch several times.

"Please tell me that was a fake story you just made up."

"Sadly enough, no, it wasn't. Apparently Al likes to use it as an excuse to being crazy, but he actually didn't change much. "

"Fantastic, we're related to a psychopath."

"At least you don't have to call him brother."

"This is true." Suzaku agreed. "Anyway we better catch up before he finds a way to breaks any bones. Or worse, breaks someone else's."

"Good point." Lelouch agreed.

So the two of them took off after Alan, deciding to take the elevator instead of the stairs.

It didn't take long for them to finally catch up with him though, just in time to cross the street to the bridge that straddled the Potomac river.

They walked in silence, keeping a close eye on Alan as he hummed to himself, skipping along in the snow.

"Should I tell dad that Al's acting weird?" Lelouch whispered as they followed Al into Arlington cemetery.

"Uncle Leon would probably tell you that his attitude is no different from the way he usually is." Suzaku pointed out.

They both jumped when Alan suddenly shouted, "I found them!"

"Found who?" Lelouch asked.

"Cameron and Travis." said Alan pointing to a large headstone like a child.

Suzaku and Lelouch starred at the headstone in front of them.

There were two names on it 'Cameron Morgan Ashtor' and 'Travis William Ashtor' one with a set of Navy wings and the other with the Marines insignia each with a different date of death.

"It feels kinda weird looking at my own grave." came a voice from behind.

They each let out a strange yelp as they whirled around so fast, they collided with each other and tumbled into the snow.

Travis just laughed at them.

"Very smooth boys, very smooth."

"What are you doing here uncle Travis?" Lelouch sighed.

"We're spending the day with Grant." said Ashtor walking up with a middle aged man beside him.

"Grandpa? So that's why I couldn't find you this morning." Lelouch sighed.

"I left early today. Why, did you need me for something?" Ashtor admitted, holding out a hand to help him up.

"I was wondering why you weren't at breakfast." he admitted as Ashtor hauled him to his feet. Then he looked at the man beside him. "So who's he again?"

"This is your Uncle Grant."

"Yeah, can't you see the resemblances?" Travis chuckled.

Sure enough, while the man didn't have Ashtor's size, he had the man's brown hair and blue eyes.

"See, my sister Tuyen is the one that doesn't look anything like dad."

"Tuyen, why does that name sound familiar?" Lelouch asked curiously.

"It sounds familiar because she's your doctor Lelouch." said Ashtor with a smile.

Lelouch cringed.

The family doctor was a slightly cranky, short, little Vietnamese woman who was married to a Navy captain. She could be friendly when you did as you were told and in return you received a treat, Kit and Lelouch seemed to enjoy the lollipops she gave them. Argue over your vaccinations like Leon did and she would knock you to the floor with a clip board to the head.

"That lady scares me." Lelouch said. "She knocked dad out with one hit."

"She's good at that." Ashtor chuckled. "It's because I took her home with me from Vietnam on the hospital ship and she liked to play doctor. Most men weren't stupid enough to disobey her."

"Should I be glad that I have a friendly doctor that isn't related to this family?" Suzaku asked with a raised brow.

"Yes, you should be. At least I only have to go when I have to get my shots." Lelouch muttered.

"As I used to tell Grant, as long as you have broken bones and a normal human disease, I can take care of you just fine." Ashtor said, gently ruffling Lelouch's hair making him smile.

"Normal human diseases? Do the demons in the family get other types of diseases?" Suzaku asked.

"Not that I know of. But I can not take care of little aliens from Pluto that get the lagerwathy pox after falling into a lake of milky white acid." he said looking at Grant.

Grant let out a peal of child like laughter.

"I can't believe you remember that!"

"Aliens from Pluto? Why would Pluto have aliens if it's not a planet?" Lelouch asked.

"Hey, I was a kid with an over active imagination, and when I was growing up, yes, Pluto was still considered a planet." Grant explained.

"I do recall that conversation." said Travis thoughtfully. "And you thought up man eating plants that would eat Cameron that had a thick green drool."

"Wow, I don't think I could've imagined that as a child." Lelouch admitted. "Then again, I didn't grow up in a household where imagination and creativity was encouraged."

"Umm, hey guys, where'd Al go?" Suzaku asked suddenly, tugging on Lelouch's jacket sleeve.

"Oh no, you lost him." Ashtor sighed, shaking his head.

"I didn't really know Alan that well, is it that bad if he's missing?" Grant asked.

"He already tumbled down the stairs of the Lincoln memorial today, we don't need anything else happening to him." said Suzaku.

And that began the search for Alan.

"It's like trying to find a lost child!" Lelouch sighed after nearly twenty minutes. "Are we sure he's really thirty five?"

"Well technically speaking, he was born in 1939. It was just that he was raised from 1975 on." said Ashtor. "But yes, sometimes you wonder if you need to hold his hand as if he's five."

"Why does the FBI keep him if he goes missing like this?" Grant asked.

"Because despite it all he's one of the best Homicide detectives they have." Travis admitted.

"That's disturbing." Lelouch sighed as he looked around a large headstone.

"Boo!" Al cried as he jumped out from behind.

Lelouch let out an undignified scream before he tumbled to the ground sending snow flying everywhere.

"You suck Al! We were worried!" he snapped as Alan laughed so hard he fell to the ground.

"Al, do I need to tell your father that your scaring your brother?" Ashtor warned.

"No," Alan sighed as if his fun had been ruined.

Lelouch just scooped up a handful of snow and threw a ball at Alan's head, hitting him in the face and causing him to choke slightly.

"I guess I deserved that one." Alan grumbled.

"Yes you did." Lelouch agreed, standing up and brushing the snow off his pants.

"Well then, I say since Al received his payback, we go get a snack, I'm getting hungry." said Ashtor.

"I like your thinking grandpa. I'm getting hungry too." Lelouch said.

"Same here." agreed Suzaku.

So the group wandered out of the cemetery and made their way back towards the metro station.

"So, what do you do Uncle Grant?" Lelouch asked his latest family member in curiosity.

"I'm a U.S. Marshall, so I live up here. I've worked with Al once or twice, but this is my first time seeing him out of a professional setting and I must be honest, it's quite unsettling." he said looking at Lelouch's brother who was now chasing a butterfly several feet away.

"He's like a big kid." Lelouch sighed, scratching the back of his hand. "At his rate, we're going to have to get him one of those child leashes."

"Al, you're going to slip if your not careful!" Ashtor warned.

And before long, Al jumped a little too high, and when he landed he hit a patch of ice causing him to slip and fall on the sidewalk.

"Are you alight Al?" Suzaku asked, seeing that he wasn't moving.

"I'm okay, just sore." he mumbled, sitting up and rubbing his head.

"Up you go." said Ashtor as he hauled the man to his feet. "Come now, I'm hungry. You can chase butterflies in the park with Chloe some other time."

"Yes sir." Alan sighed.

"He's just not normal." Suzaku muttered.

"Grandpa, you'll make sure we survive till we meet dad at dinner, right?" Lelouch asked, looking up at his grandfather.

"I promise, you two will survive to see another day. Al on the other hand, at his rate, I get the feeling I'll have to patch him up before today ends."

Lelouch and Suzaku just shook their heads and decided, it would be best to stick with their grandfather and uncles for the day.

If only to stay safe from the whacko brother.

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Ginger: okay, not my best work, it's a filler chapter for now, but it'll start getting better once my writer's block is gone, I promise.


	18. twins and a call from dad

Disclaimer: I don't own Lelouch, dang it.

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Ginger: okay! I'm finally getting somewhere. Thanks for reading guys, it's about to get interesting.

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Amazingly enough Suzaku and Lelouch did manage to live through a day with Alan, while getting to know their Uncle Grant.

But it wasn't long before Lelouch realized that Alan was going to become a very permanent part of his life.

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Soon March came along and with it, the quickly approaching date of Leon's deployment.

The air in the household seemed to thicken with tension as everything was put into order before the Saturday arrived.

And Lelouch couldn't figure out what it was going to be like, suddenly being the man of the house.

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When the day did arrive, it was a terribly early morning full of tearful goodbyes, promises, and good lucks.

"Take care of everyone for me Lelouch." Leon had told him. "I know you'll do well while I'm gone."

Even though he had been preparing himself for the day, he found himself, trying to fight back tears and wishing he didn't have to let his father go.

But he eventually had to let go of Leon's flight suit and he sat starring out at the horizon as the ship headed out to open seas.

It was going to be a long six months.

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"Kit! Mercy! Come on, it's time for school!" Lelouch called, knocking on the bedroom doors to his little brother and little sister.

It had been nearly a month since Leon had left on deployment and Lelouch was finding himself stepping into his father's abnormally large shoes.

Since Sahara's schedule could be so sporadic, Lelouch had taken over watching the little ones with help from his grandfather and occasionally, his brother Alan. He helped his mother with the family financials, and schedules, all while preparing for his final exams which would be in a couple of weeks.

After feeding Kit and Mercy waffles for breakfast and making sure they were ready and had everything they needed, Lelouch handed them over to his grandfather so he could escort them to the bus stop. Then he grabbed his own back pack and headed out to his own bus.

"Can you believe our parent's have already been gone for a whole month?" Tanya asked as she took his hand while they waited for the bus.

"It passed pretty quick." Lelouch agreed. "I hope the next five months pass just a fast."

"Well, to be honest, you're doing pretty well considering this is the first time you've had a parent deployed." Luis pointed out.

"I think it's because I don't want to let him down and break my promise." he admitted.

"I don't see you letting him down at all." Tanya told him, kissing his cheek.

Lelouch just smiled as the bus arrived.

It was going to be another average day. But that was what he loved in his life.

After school Lelouch arrived home to find his mother's car in the driveway, but that she was no where in the house.

Even his grandpa was somewhere other then home.

"Mom? Mom? Are you home?" he called through the house. He reached the bedroom his parents shared and quietly knocked on the door. When he got no answer he found his mother quietly napping on the bed.

"Lelouch?" she yawned.

"Sorry mom, I didn't mean to wake you." he said quietly.

Sahara smiled. "It's alright." she said sitting up. "Come sit down with me. How was your day at school?"

"It was just like any other day." he shrugged, sitting down beside her. "The only difference now is that we're reviewing for our finals."

"Well as long as you study a little, you'll do just fine I'm sure."

"What about you mom? How was you're day?" he asked.

He was surprised when he saw her face light up as she smiled.

"Come here, I want you to hear something." she said, patting her stomach.

Lelouch tilted his head in curiosity. "Hear what? The food you ate for lunch?" he asked, bewildered.

"No silly, just listen."

Lelouch leaned down and put an ear to the left side of Sahara's stomach, his eyes widened as he heard a faint beating, and it was then that he felt something under his right hand. So he moved his ear and heard another beat. "I hear two of them!"

"Twins." said Sahara smiling. "You're going to have two more little sisters."

Lelouch sat up finding himself filling with excitement. "More sisters? What are their names going to be?"

"Dawn and Lilly."

"So now I'll have Nunnally, Mercy, Dawn, and Lilly. Wow. When are they due?"

"December. Around your birthday. Do you mind sharing the week of your birthday?" she asked.

"Not at all. Have you told dad?"

"I talked to him earlier. They just reached their first port of call. So he said he'd call you later."

"Okay. So, what do you want me to make for dinner?"

"I think tonight, we'll just order pizza. I've been craving pizza lately."

Lelouch just chuckled and shook his head. "Alright, I better go study for a while."

"Alright. I'll go get you when the little ones get home and when the pizza get's here."

"Okay."

So he got up and headed to his room when he gave Aldair and Sandy affectionate hugs, then he grabbed his biology book and his binder before settling down on his window bench to study, keeping his phone beside him as he waited for his father's call.

Luckily he didn't have to wait too long. Around five O'clock, Lelouch's phone began to ring, and when he answered it, he was glad to see a picture of his father.

"Studying hard I see." Leon said with a grin.

"Trying to." Lelouch admitted, returning the smile. "And thanks for the new I-phone dad. I didn't see me ever getting one."

"I figured it would give you and I the chance to talk face to face while I'm away from home." Leon shrugged. "Anyway, I assume you heard the news?"

"Two baby sisters, I'm excited. Mom had me listen to them when I got home."

"That's wonderful."

"So where are you dad?" he asked, noticing the scenery around his father was a place he didn't recognize.

"Barcelona Spain."

"Barcelona? Wow, can you send me some pictures?"

"Gladly. How about I send you something from every country I visit?"

"I could use some stuff to fill up my kick knack shelf that would go with the German snow globe mom got me for my birthday." he admitted, looking up at the large shelf that held the lonely snow globe.

"Then maybe a snow globe from each country might do the trick."

"That would be neat. Can you believe it's already been a month? It actually went by pretty quick."

"The first three months always do, the last three months are the one's that crawl along slower then a snail."

"I guess that makes sense. So where are you heading to next?"

"London, for some training with the Brits."

"Then a cheesy snow globe with Big Ben sounds in order."

Leon laughed. "I suppose it does. So how have your brother and sister been?"

"They've been doing okay. They miss you a lot, but they still go out and play in the backyard, and it helps that we still have mom and grandpa here."

"That's good. And how has school been?"

"Busy, since it's close to the end of the year."

"That makes sense." he agreed.

"So… what time is it there?"

"It's a little after ten. I have to head back to the ship soon."

Just then Lelouch heard a voice in the background.

"Hey! Hey commander! Let me say hi!"

"Lelouch, you remember Lieutenant Marcos ." said Leon moving the phone so the small woman appeared.

"Hi Lelouch!"

"Hi Miss Marcos." said Lelouch as Leon's RIO waved. "You're making sure my dad behaves, right?"

"Of course I am. He's been behaving unusually well."

"Basically she's saying that the squadron calmed down enough that I haven't attacked anyone." Leon sighed.

"Don't attack anyone dad. We don't need you getting into trouble." Lelouch said with a smile.

"I won't, I promise." he said.

"Get back to your ship dad. Just make sure you call often."

"I will. Goodnight Lelouch."

"Night dad."

After Lelouch hung up, he smile a little. Maybe it wouldn't be so hard with his dad gone. He was going to do his best to make sure every month continued to go by easily.

Just then Sahara called for him downstairs.

Pizza…. Dinner.

Lelouch immediately jumped up and ran down for dinner, feeling happy, like nothing could ruin his night.

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Ginger: more girls in the house? That's jut what Lelouch needs right? But things are getting fun, so enjoy! Thanks for reading guys!


	19. A sad letter and a trip overseas

Ginger: two chapters in one day, I'm catching up, and I've finally got the rest of the story in my mind. I might actually finish this story yet! And another thanks to my faithful readers. If it weren't for you guys, this story wouldn't keep going.

Disclaimer: I still don't own any code geass characters.

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Two more months had passed since Leon had left, and Lelouch's knick knack shelf was really filling up with snow globes that had been sent from different countries.

Now, next to the snow globe from Germany that Sahara had bought him, there were snow globes from Spain, England, France, Italy, Greece, and Turkey.

Mercy had started a collection of dolls from each country, and Kit had begun collecting coins and whatever random knick knack Leon could find for him.

But even though Lelouch was expecting the last three months to be a bit harder then the first three, he didn't realize just how difficult they were about to turn.

It was mid June, and Lelouch was eagerly enjoying his summer, spending time with his friends. He was now driving his father's jeep around when his mother or grandfather were there with him since he had his permit, and he and his siblings got to just how big their sister's were getting with Sahara's monthly ultrasounds.

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But then they got some disturbing news.

It was a letter addressed to Lelouch with the Navy crest and it read,

"Dear Mr. Berkenbridge,

We regret to inform you that Commander Leon Berkenbridge's plane went down

Overseas and he is now considered MIA."

Lelouch couldn't read it anymore, instead he crumpled up the note and threw it into the corner of his room.

Leon couldn't be gone, Lelouch still needed help in his life, he didn't need to loose the man who was raising him.

And he couldn't bring himself to tell his mother, let alone his brother and sister.

"What do I do now?" he mumbled, sitting down in the middle of his floor.

"What's wrong Lelouch?" Aldair asked, walking over to him.

"Dad is missing. He went down overseas and he's missing." Lelouch whispered.

"Where?"

"I don't know."

"It said he was Missing right? Not killed?"

"Not killed thank God, but who knows where he is?"

"Maybe we could find out. This is where knowing Alan comes in handy. He has family high up in the military and he could probably figure out where he went down."

It was then that Lelouch quickly began formulating a plan in his head. He knew that the carrier was heading towards china.

His father had broken the rules and told him at least a general destination.

"I think dad's somewhere near China." he admitted, "Dad told me they'd be in Hong Kong this weekend after some type of flight maneuvers over the mountains."

"That's a start."

Just then Sahara called, she was home with the little ones, and dinner.

"Are you going to tell them?" Aldair asked.

"Not yet. I'll wait until I have to." Lelouch said seriously. "I promised dad I'd protect this house, and take care of everyone, and I'm deciding it's best to wait on the news."

After that he headed downstairs for dinner and did his best to play the happy loving son and brother at the table.

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He spent the next couple of days waiting, hoping for some news that his father had been found, but after two weeks it felt hopeless.

So late one night, Lelouch decided to take matters into his own hands, after he knew everyone else in the house had fallen asleep, he packed a duffle bag with some clothes, and a few other things he thought he'd need, then he tried to sneak out of his room.

"Where are you going?" Aldair whispered without waking Sandy.

"I'm going to pay Al a visit." he whispered back.

"You can't drive without an adult."

"You can change into a human sometimes, why not come with me?"

Aldair just huffed before getting up and following him. "I suppose someone's got to keep you out of trouble."

"Come on then." he said.

Aldair followed him downstairs where Lelouch grabbed his father's keys off the hook by the garage door, then he made sure he kept quiet as he started the old blue wrangler and opened the garage door.

"If we crash….." Aldair began as he pulled out.

"I can drive just fine Aldair." Lelouch sighed as he made sure the Garage door shut.

"If you say so."

Lelouch just sighed as he put the jeep into drive and they headed down the road.

It was nearly a two hour drive to D.C. and when Lelouch got close he called Alan who answered with a surprisingly grouchy "What?"

"Sheesh, grouchy much?" Lelouch sighed.

"What the Hell are you doing calling me at one in the morning?"

"You sound like you're awake."

"That's because I just finished a double shift."

"Oh, well have you left the office yet?"

"I'm about to…. Why?" he asked slowly.

I'm almost there, can I meet you somewhere?"

"How'd you get up here?"

"I drove duh."

"By yourself?"

"That's not the point Al! I need your help. Where do you want to meet?" Lelouch sighed frustrated.

"Fine, meet me over by the mall. There's a small parking lot by the WWII memorial, I'll meet you there."

"Alright."

Lelouch hung up the phone and set it in the cup holder beside his soda that he had grabbed at a gas station on the way out.

"So where are we going?"

"We're meeting Al by the national mall."

"You know you're mother's going to freak when she finds you gone, and your father's jeep gone to top it off."

"Yes, I know. But what can I tell her?"

"I know you don't want your mother to know about your father, but I know she doesn't want you to be missing as well."

"I know. I'll call her later, but first I want Al's help." Lelouch said.

After about ten minutes Lelouch pulled into the small parking lot that was empty except for one truck, and Alan leaning against it.

"So you stole dad's jeep in the dead of night, and came out here for what reason?" Al asked as Lelouch got out of the jeep.

"I need your help with something Al." Lelouch said.

"What could you possibly need my help with at this time of night?"

Lelouch just handed Alan the letter.

"What's this?"

"Just read it."

Alan read it and Lelouch quickly saw the color leave his face. "Dad's missing overseas?"

"All I know is he was doing flight maneuvers over the Chinese mountains. I want to find him."

"You're in luck, I have some family members that could help us out with this. One of my older brothers is a vice admiral that could probably get their flight plans from that mission, and I have a sister in the CIA that could get someone over there."

"I want to go." said Lelouch surprising Alan and Aldair. "I'll take Aldair with me."

"Are you sure about that?"

"As long as I have support on the home front."

"Have you told your mother?" he asked accusingly.

"No, I didn't want her to know yet."

"Well if I can get help from my brother and sister, I have some friends that work for airlines, we can get you over there. Do you have a passport?"

"Dad got me one just in case we went on vacation somewhere. I brought it with me."

"Good, give me a couple of hours, I'll see what I can do."

So Lelouch followed Alan to the apartment he shared with Chloe and his girlfriend Alayna and took a nap while Alan took care of everything.

"Alright little brother, I've got everything you need." said Alan waking him up around five A.M.

"Everything?"

"My brother was actually pretty willing to help out. Here's dad's last coordinates when his plane went down, engine failure, they said they saw his ejection seat deploy, so he's probably alive somewhere. You've got a flight leaving for Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, since dad went down in the Sichuan province. He'd be closest to a small cluster of villages, so you'll have to take a bus, and do quite a bit of hiking, you up for it?"

"Of course."

"Good, your flight leaves in an hour. Come on Aldair."

Lelouch hopped up and grabbed his bag. "Wait, what about dad's jeep?"

"I'll take it down and tell your mom, okay?"

"Okay."

So Lelouch and Aldair had Alan take him to the airport.

"You know, this is quite a random whim." Aldair sighed after they had told Alan goodbye and found a place open for breakfast.

"I know." Lelouch sighed. "But I also know dad would do that same for me if something happened."

"This is true." Aldair sighed. Then he looked up at Lelouch and starred.

"What?"

"Are you drinking soda with your breakfast?"

"So?" Lelouch shrugged.

"You're really are becoming like your father." Aldair sighed.

Just then their flight was called to board, and Lelouch found himself getting in line for a flight out to San Francisco where he was going to catch a flight to Japan, then to Chengdu.

It was going to be a long flight.

After he arrived in California, he found that he had several missed calls from his mother. Even though he really didn't want to hear his mother yelling at him, he decided it would be best to call.

But he was surprised to find that she wasn't exactly furious, just worried.

"Are you sure you want to go to China to find your dad? It'll be so dangerous to send you by yourself."

"I'll be fine mom, promise. I'll find dad and bring him home." he admitted, not wanting her to worry.

"You do that, but next time, don't hide something like that from me, okay?"

Lelouch couldn't help but smile. "Promise mom. Are you going to be okay while I'm gone?"

"I'm a marine Lelouch, I can take care of myself just fine."

"Yeah, but you're a marine with two little kids and your pregnant with twins." Lelouch pointed out.

"I'll still be fine." she told him. "You just take care of yourself. Let me know when you arrive in Japan."

"I will mom,"

Just then the flight to Tokyo was called.

"That's my flight. Gotta go. I love you."

"Love you two buddy. Get your dad home safe."

"No problem." he said with a smile.

After one last good bye, Lelouch hung up his phone and lead Aldair to the line for boarding.

It was about to be another long flight. But he knew he would do anything to find his father, and have home be comfortable and happy, with everyone home.

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Ginger: Lelouch is heading to China? I wonder how will this turn out. I hope you guys are still enjoying this. Thanks!


	20. On the road to understanding

Disclaimer: I of course don't own Suzaku and Lelouch.

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Ginger: okay guys sorry I've slowed down, but I'm finally beginning to get the story back in my head, so enjoy.

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"Suzaku! It's time to get up!" Suzaku heard as Cecile gently knocked on his bedroom door.

"Already?" he yawned as he stretched.

"Weren't you going to go spend the day with your friends Suzaku?" she asked, peeking in.

"Yeah, we were going to go the historic park for the day." he admitted, sitting up.

"Then you best get up."

"Okay, I'm up." he yawned again, then he smiled. "I'm guessing you just want to get me out of the house before Jake comes over."

Cecile had surprisingly got together with Jake Corruthers, the history teacher across the hall and Braydon's dear friend and Suzaku couldn't help but think that maybe, he just might end up with a good father to go with his wonderful mother.

"I never said that." she protested.

"But you're thinking it." he said with a grin as he hopped out of bed.

"Just get dressed and get out of here, I'm sure Lelouch is wondering where you are." she laughed.

"I'm going!" he laughed. Then he got dressed and with a kiss goodbye, headed own the street to Lelouch's house.

Suzaku discovered that he loved walking around on sunny spring days. The sun was warm, but not yet hot, the grass was green and flowers were blooming everywhere.

"What a beautiful day," he told himself with a smile. He was looking forward to walking around the old battlefield with his friends, it reminded him that he was once again, just a kid, and a happy one at that.

But when he arrived at the Berkenbridge household he got quite a surprise.

"Hey aunt Sahara, is Lelouch up yet?" he asked when Sahara answered the door.

"Actually, he's not home Suzaku."

Suzaku tiled his head and starred. "What do you mean he's not home?"

"He arrived in Chengdu province in China last night."

"China? What the hell's he doing in China? And why did you let him go?" he asked, astonished and baffled.

"Why don't you come inside, I just made cookies."

Suzaku just followed her inside and sat down in the living room feeling completely confused as to why his best friend was suddenly in China.

"So, why is he in China?" he asked again as Sahara handed him a couple of cookies.

"I guess he got a notice that his father was missing overseas a couple of weeks ago, and when there was no more news, he went to Al for help, and now he's in China looking for him."

"And you let him?"

"He was already halfway there by the time I found out the next morning." she shrugged with a small smile. "I'm sure he'll be able to find Leon and Macy."

Suzaku really couldn't figure out what he was thinking about everything, or how he was going to explain to their friends. He looked out the window, hoping that his friend and cousin was going to be alright on his own, almost half a world away.

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"Okay, so, how are we going to find your father?" Aldair muttered as they walked through a city in China.

"GPS, how else do you find coordinates?" Lelouch shrugged.

Aldair huffed and rolled his eyes. "Let me rephrase that, how do we find those coordinates in the middle of nowhere?"

"I'm working on that." Lelouch muttered. "If I could just figure out what people are saying, and who I should ask."

"I thought you could speak in all languages like your dad." Aldair said, looking up at him.

"That's what he told me, I have yet to figure out how it works." he admitted. Just then his stomach began to rumble. "But first, let's find us some food. I'm hungry."

"I smell a market place nearby. That means good cheep food."

"Good and cheep? I'll go for that." Lelouch said, so he followed Aldair to a street covered in booths and people. "So… what sounds good?" he asked, looking at a booth. But then he shrank back. "Chicken feet? Ugh….."

"As most kids say these days, don't knock it till you try it."

"I suppose." he admitted. He walked over to a busy stand with some type of fried food. "I wonder what this is, it smells pretty good."

"Well get it and see what it tastes like and get me one too." Aldair told him.

So Lelouch got in line and paid around three dollars for two fried squares stuffed with something on a stick.

"So who wants to try it first?" Lelouch asked looking at the stick.

"You first." Aldair said sniffing his food.

Lelouch cautiously sniffed his lunch before he took a small nibble off the end.

"A bigger bite then that." Aldair told him.

Lelouch sighed then took a medium sized bite. It was interesting, that's for sure, with a strange tang at the end.

"Not bad actually." he admitted, nodding his head from side to side.

Aldair took another sniff then bit off half of the fried mystery.

"That is actually pretty good."

"I wonder what it is."

Just then two people walked by with the same food, and at first he heard a jumbled up language, but suddenly he heard English.

"That stand always sells the best stinky tofu."

Lelouch gagged a little, both in surprise and in realization of his meal.

"What was that for?" Aldair asked, looking at him in curiosity.

"Funny, I never liked Tofu before." he muttered, looking at his food.

"Tofu?"

"Apparently we're eating fried stinky tofu. I wonder what makes it stinky tofu."

"Maybe we don't want to know." Aldair admitted.

Out of curiosity Lelouch walked up to the stand after it had slowed down, then he asked the older lady.

"Umm… excuse me, but… what is this?" he asked.

"It stinky tofu." she said.

"But…. What's in it?"

"A secret family recipe."

"It's definitely interesting." he admitted, looking at it before he walked away.

He jumped though when a girl about his age walked up to him.

"You must not be use to this place." she told him.

"No, no I'm not." he admitted.

The girl giggled. "Well, I am in town till tomorrow, maybe I could show you around?" she suggested.

"Um, where are you from?"

"I live in a little village about eight hours north from here."

"Isn't where you're trying to get north of here?" Aldair asked.

"Actually I am."

"Where are you trying to go?"

Lelouch looked at the girl. "You're not wondering why my anteater talked?"

"No, not really." she shrugged with a smile. Then she took his hand. "Come, I need to do some shopping."

And without being given the chance to protest, Lelouch found himself being dragged off to a market full of odd and unusual knick knacks.

"So, what's your name?" he asked as she looked at baskets.

"Mingmei. You can call me Ming."

"Okay Ming, I'm Lelouch and this is Aldair." said Lelouch introducing himself and Aldair.

"Interesting names." she giggled.

"Well Mingmei is an interesting name for me." he admitted.

"Like Berkenbridge."

Lelouch turned to look at her so fast that he heard his neck crack. "Berkenbridge?"

"Yes, we found this big man and a lady a couple weeks ago. The man goes by Berkenbridge, but he does not speak."

"He doesn't speak, why?"

"He just makes… unusual noises, no words." she told him.

"Great, my dad has lost his ability to speak." Lelouch sighed. "What kind of noises does he make?"

"Strange growls, chirps, things like that. Mayson, the lady, she called him….. What was it, oh yes, Perry."

"He's sounding like Perry the Platypus?"

"And you watch Phineas and Ferb?" Aldair asked with a raise brow.

"Of course I do. Why wouldn't I?" he shrugged. "Anyway, we should probably get to him soon."

"If he is your father, that would explain the hair."

"If you're referring to him as a giant, his hair is like mine and his last name is Berkenbridge, that would be my dad."

"Well, as I said, I am heading home tomorrow morning, you can come with me, we don't get many visitors in our village."

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And so he continued to wander around with Mingmei until they went to a small hotel for the night and Lelouch found himself sitting on the bed staring out the window.

"You seem lost in thought." Aldair muttered.

"Why would dad forget how to speak?" he asked.

"Good question." Aldair shrugged.

After a moment he got tired of thinking and he summoned Morticai.

"Morticai, can you tell me more about Alistair Hadrian?" he asked.

"If you truly want to know about Master Hadrian, ask Angelica." Morticai told him.

"Angelica?"

"Angelica was Alistair's book of souls. Very special, very powerful." Aldair explained. "Where is she Morticai?"

"Sitting on a shelf collecting dust in Michael's library, poor dear. I'm sure she'd like the company though."

"Can you get her for us?" Lelouch asked.

"Will you return her to her rightful owner? She misses Master Hadrian terribly."

"When I find him I will." Lelouch agreed with a nod.

"Very well then."

And with that Morticai disappeared. But within moments a large green book fell in his place, a picture of a woman with silver hair in a long golden dress on the front.

"So this is Angelica?" Lelouch asked, blowing the thick layer of dust off.

"That tickles!" the woman giggled.

"She moves!" Lelouch gasped.

"She's nothing like other books." Aldair whispered.

"My my, you look just like Master Alistair." she said with a smile.

Lelouch was surprised when she stepped of f of the book and onto his knee, barely standing six inches tall.

"Apparently I'm his son now. But he doesn't remember being Alistair." Lelouch explained.

"Ah, so your wondering about his life before now?" she inquired.

"Kinda. Did he just…. Start out talking when he was created?"

"Oh my no!" she laughed. "He had to learn the human language. Now granted, it only took him a few days with Kasukus's help, but in the beginning he spoke like the rest of the demons, he spoke in growls and chirps, an odd muttering sort of thing. Then he learned human speech and made that his primary form of communication."

"Could it be that dad forgot everything, like….. A form of amnesia?" Lelouch asked Aldair.

"We won't know until we find him." Aldair admitted.

"I'm guessing you are part of why more pages continue to add to my book." Angelica said.

"I guess." Lelouch shrugged.

"I remember the day Master Alistair rescued you. You were a tough decision."

Lelouch starred. "I though Uncle Malachai saved me."

"No, no, Malachai was there, but Master Alistair was sent for you. He is the Master of Dark souls after all."

With a flourish of her hand the book flipped open and Lelouch was surprised to see a picture of him, practically dead, lying in a pool of blood with Nunnally crying over him, and standing beside him was his father in a set of black, blue and red robes, a pair of mismatched wings behind him, Angelica on his shoulder, and the book in his hand.

"He was in serious debate over you. It's not often he get's sent to other worlds, but Lucifer was practically begging for your soul."

Lelouch's heart sank, it proved that he was truly a form of evil at one point in his former life. "Why did he save me then?"

"He took your past into serious consideration, he told Malachai to take you and put you with a loving family to let you serve redemption and see what happened. I don't think he expected Malachai to ever return you to him."

"Do you think he ever regretted saving me?" he asked softly.

"I very much doubt that." Angelica said reassuringly with a pat on his knee. "Look at part of his life with you."

Suddenly the pages flipped again and they were now covered in pictures of Lelouch's time with his father.

There was a picture of him when he was three, sitting in Leon's lap in the backyard while Kit and Mercy were at school, and they watched the birds fly over the ocean. Another one when he had a nightmare, and Leon gently rocked him to sleep in his arms singing the song 'I like myself' from one of Lelouch's favorite movies. There was a picture of Lelouch sitting on Leon's shoulder with Kit as they watched the 4th of July fireworks. One picture had been of when they were laying out in the rain together after Lelouch had first moved in.

But then there was one that Lelouch decided was his favorite. It was a picture from when Lelouch was five, as they sat on the beach, Lelouch in Leon's lap, his father's arms wrapped around him, and him grinning happily as Leon gently kissed the side of head in a fatherly gesture, letting him know that he truly was loved.

"He loves you very much Lelouch, even though he doesn't remember saving you, he knows who you are and what you've done, but no matter what, you're his son now, and he loves you." Angelica said, breaking into his thoughts. "Alistair would have never saved you if he didn't see the potential for you to be a wonderful, loving person when given a second chance. You are the second soul out of thousands that he's taken under his wing."

"The second soul?" Lelouch asked.

"The first one was Braydon."

Suddenly the page changed and more pictures appeared. But they were obviously older. There was one of Alistair with a young man as they sat at a small kitchen table eating breakfast and playing a game of chess. There was another with them sitting in the park on a sunny day with a picnic lunch and stacks of text books as he sat in Alistair's lap writing in a notebook while the demon appeared to doze in the sunlight as he leaned against the tree trunk. A picture of the young man sitting on Alistair's shoulders as they both smiled. One with his arm's gently wrapped around the boy's neck from behind in a hug, his cheek against the side of the boy's head, as the boy grinned broadly, both hands on the forearm that was stretched across his chest. A picture of the two of them sitting in large armchairs by the fire, the boy sitting sideways, his legs across one of the chair's arms, and he was laughing as Alistair pointed to him with his glasses in hand, a book in the other.

"What's this one?" Lelouch asked, pointing to a picture of Alistair with fuzzy white cat ears on his head as he gave Braydon an annoyed look, his arms across his chest, the boy laughing and pointing.

"Oh, that was one of Braydon's first attempts at being a spellspinner. Part of why Master Alistair watched over him was because he's one of the last two sorcerers in the world, and the other lost his powers on accident. But Braydon's the only spell spinner left. Conner used to be, but not without his powers. Well, actually I believe Suzaku Sanchez is one as well, but that's another story, for another time."

"What's a spellspinner?" he asked.

"Someone who can create their own unique spells as easy as a spider can spin it's own unique web." said Aldair.

"Wow, so Braydon's a sorcerer? Who would've thought." he said in awe. "And that's Braydon looked like when he was younger?"

"I believe your father was in his forties by then."

"His forties? So how old is he now?"

"Well let's see, he was forty eight when he was taken away from Braydon and Sahara, then he spent a year with the Japanese Ministry, another five taking souls with Malachai, and how old is he now?"

"Well we thought twenty eight." Lelouch muttered.

"So add forty eight, six, an twenty eight, and you get, I believe eighty two."

"Good lord, your father's older then Malachai." Aldair said surprised.

"He's the same age as Grandpa Berkenbridge who just died in March…"

"Well he's no where near dying I can assure you." Angelica promised. "I believe your why his patch changed recently though."

"Dad has a patch?"

"All soul retrievers are required to wear a patch." Aldair explained.

Another flick of her wrist and the page turned to show a large patch, Malachai's patch, and the one Lelouch truly didn't like. It was black with the Latin in red and there was a decapitated skeleton that was kneeling in a knightly fashion, the skull suspended in laughter above two crossed scythes which had blood dripping off into a puddle at the skeleton's knees. It was also holding a scroll in one hand and a book in the other.

"I remember that patch, I hate that one." he admitted.

"Yes, well I always did like Master Alistair's better." Angelica admitted.

The page turned to show a large patch with the Latin written around the outside in gold. But on the inside was a picture of a figure in red and black robes, a crown and halo on his head, a large broadsword in one hand a green book in the other. Behind him were red and green figures in silver armor kneeling in a knightly fashion. There was also a mismatched pair of wings, one white and one black. Stretched out behind him, and sitting by his feet, leaning against his legs was a smiling young man with glasses who was turned sideways, holding one knee, the other leg outstretched as he looked down at the ground and on the opposite side was a figure that looked much like Lelouch in the same posture.

"You were added quite recently." Angelica explained. "But it's proof that you are a permanent and very special part of your father's life."

"What does the Latin say on dad's?" Lelouch asked.

"Vinco atrum quod malum animus, satraps everto. Essentially it means the master of dark and evil souls, ruler of demons."

"And to think I was such an evil person that the master himself was sent for me." he sighed sadly.

"But he also decided you were worth saving." Aldair pointed out. "That's the point."

"Let's hope he still thinks that if he ever remembers everything." Lelouch muttered, closing the books. "Let's get some sleep, we've got a ways to go tomorrow."

And with that, Lelouch set aside the book, and laid down, falling asleep, full of doubt about his life.

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Ginger: So Alistair was the one who really saved Lelouch, hmm... I wonder how this will continue. Anyway, if you guys want me to keep going, let me know and review some! And as always thanks to my few faithful readers who have stuck with me for quite a long time now.


	21. chirps, growls, roars, and memories

Disclaimer: I don't own Lelouch, so what?

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Ginger: okay, if it isn't as good as it used to be I apologize, I'm still trying to get back into the story, but I'm getting there, so enjoy.

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It had been a long night, and Lelouch had barely slept, wondering about why his father would have saved his soul. But it was early when Mingmei knocked on the door to his room, and they were soon off on quite a trip.

Three hours of a rickety old bus, and an hour of hiking up into the hills, by the time they reached the gates to the village, Lelouch was exhausted and ready to lay down for a long nap.

"You look tired." Mingmei giggled.

"That was quite a trip." he admitted with a nod and a yawn.

"Come, knowing your father, he is probably sitting by the river." she said leading him into the village.

Lelouch couldn't help but notice the strange looks that many villagers were giving him. But he ignored them and continued to follow Ming a little ways out of the village towards a small forest by the river.

"That is your father yes?"

Lelouch looked over to where she was pointing.

Sure enough, there was a large man in a dirty green flight suit sitting alone by the river well outside of the village.

"How on earth did you get here Lelouch?"

Lelouch whirled around to see Macy Marcos behind him. "Hi Miss Marcos, are you alright?" he asked hugging her.

"I'm fine. It's your dad that I'm worried about." she told him. "He's got a weird form of amnesia."

"So I can tell." Lelouch muttered.

Sure enough his and was making strange chirping noises before making a odd demented growl.

"I haven't heard that language spoke in a very long time." Aldair muttered.

"What is it?" Macy asked.

"It's the language of the demons." Aldair explained.

"It sounds like a demented form of Donald Duck without actual words." Macy muttered.

Lelouch cautiously took a step towards his dad, but was surprised when he turned and let out a nasty roar, bearing his fangs.

"That's new." Mercy whispered, hiding behind him. "I think I'll let you deal with him." she said, patting his shoulders, then she walked off.

"He sees you as a challenger." Aldair admitted. "He sees what you are now, and now you're in his territory."

"That's not a good thing, is it?" Lelouch asked slowly backing away as his father growled menacingly.

"Considering he could easily tear you apart, no, it's most certainly not." Aldair admitted.

Lelouch cowered as Leon came to stand over him, his eyes glowing a fierce yellow as he snarled and growled.

"Don't hurt me." Lelouch muttered, slowly sitting on the ground, trying to make sure that he didn't make any sudden moves.

Aldair roared in Lelouch's defense making Leon roar back.

But he was surprised when Leon sat down in front of him, sniffing the air around him cautiously.

"Aldair…" Lelouch whispered cautiously.

"Just don't move." Aldair told him.

Lelouch did as he was told.

But then Leon let out a cheerful growl and lunged forward, giving the tip of Lelouch's nose a gentle nip.

"Aye! What was that?" he squeaked, putting a hand over his nose.

"You have to remember that your father is dealing with his original animalistic instincts." Aldair chuckled. "He's showing affection, showing that he accepts you."

"That's just so weird. Can't you speak English dad?"

Leon just tilted his head to the side with a curious growl.

"Okay, obviously you can't." he sighed. "do you even remember who I am?"

He shook his head,

"So much for that." Lelouch muttered, falling backwards onto the grass. "What are we going to do Aldair? He doesn't remember anything."

"I think I may have an idea. It's a bit of a shot in the dark, but it may work."

"Anything to get my dad back. I'm content with the life he gave me, I don't need him to be the one to throw everything out of balance." he admitted, sitting up.

"Well, I'm thinking, that maybe if you have even an inkling of power that your father had, maybe you can bring out your geass and find a way to force his memory to return."

"How do I do that?" he asked.

"I don't know, how did you usually bring out that power?" Aldair asked him.

"Well, it took some focus, that's for sure."

"Then sit and focus."

Lelouch just sighed and did as he was told. He had no idea how long they sat in silence, with the occasional growl, but it felt like hours, until Lelouch finally felt a familiar stirring of power and it was then that he knew, it had returned.

He looked at Leon who seemed to be dozing in front of him.

"Dad?"

The giant opened his eyes and starred, instantly to growl at him, like he knew there was something different about Lelouch.

Lelouch reached out and steadied Leon, a hand on each side of his father's head.

"Dad look at me." he ordered. And when he finally gained eye contact with his father's animalistic yellow eyes, "I command you to remember, everything, everything you've forgotten in both lifetimes, at all costs, even if you have to find the key to unlock your old power to do it, you have to remember!"

The demon let out a monstrous roar of anguish as he began to change before Lelouch who jumped back.

"Oh dear…." Aldair muttered.

Lelouch watched, holding his breath as Leon suddenly grew long sharp claws, and mismatched wings sprouted from his back.

Then he sank to the ground.

"Dad? Dad?" Lelouch asked worriedly, "Great! I didn't want to kill him! Dad!"

"Aye! Not so loud!" Leon growled, covering Lelouch's mouth. "When eighty two years worth of memories suddenly rush back to you in less then a minute, a migraine is obviously inevitable."

Lelouch let out a heavy sigh of relief. "You're okay."

"I am now, but what are you doing out here?" he asked, rolling over onto his back to look at him.

"I was looking for you. I was worried when I got a letter saying you were suddenly MIA."

"But how did you get here?"

"Al helped." he admitted.

"I should've known."

Lelouch just shook his head and pounced on Leon in a hug. "I missed you so much dad. I'm glad you're okay." He smiled when Leon wrapped his arms around him.

"I missed you too Lelouch, thank you. "

Lelouch sat up on his father's chest. "So, do you really remember everything?" he asked.

"I remember everything." he admitted.

Lelouch jumped at a strange rustling noise, and it was then that he saw his father's wings move until they disappeared. But then he remembered something. "Here, I have a present for you." he said, reaching into his backpack.

Leon's face lit up when he saw the giant green book. "You brought Angelica! I'm guessing Morticai found her for you."

He nodded. "We're going home now right?"

"Well, actually I have to call my commanding officer and let him know Macy and I are alive, then I have to figure out what they want me to do." he admitted, then he ruffled Lelouch's hair with a smile. "But at least I can enjoy some time with you, if I recall, no one's actually returning to the city for a couple more days."

Lelouch smiled, at least he knew Leon still loved him, and now, he had some time to spend with his father, enjoying the small village.

"So, I'm guessing the people here are nice?" he asked.

"Very nice. They took Macy and I in and gave us a place to stay. I think you'll like these people. Actually, it's almost time for dinner." he said looking at his watch. "We've been staying with Mingmei's family and I suppose now it's time for us to introduce you."

Lelouch got up and helped Leon off the ground.

"Dad, did you know you have wings?" he asked.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean they have to stick out like a sore thumb now do they?"

Lelouch burst out laughing as Leon began to tickle him with a playful growl.

"I missed you so much dad." he said when he could finally breathe.

"I missed you too Lelouch." Leon said hugging him tightly.

Lelouch squealed with laughter as Leon lifted him up onto his shoulder.

"Thanks for coming to find me, and thank you for helping me to regain my memory." Leon told him.

"You're welcome dad." he said, resting his head on Leon's. "I'm just glad your back to normal. You nipped my nose."

Leon chuckled making Lelouch shake on his shoulder. "I didn't know human's hugged until Braydon taught me." he admitted. "Just be happy I know how to show any form of affection, demon's don't normally have any, they just eat each other over name calling."

"I'll keep that in mind." he sighed. "You won't eat me right dad?"

"Of course not! I've never really eaten anyone."

"Really? What do you mean by that?"

"Okay, so I bit another demon's head off, but I didn't eat him!" he said defensively.

"Well don't bite my head off either." he said sternly.

"I wouldn't eat you or bite, you're my son, I love you." Leon said looking up at him. "Trust me, I would never do anything to hurt you."

"On purpose. What if something happened and you forget again?"

"If I ever come close to hurting you, that means something's wrong."

"So then, what do I do, run?" he asked, hoping something like that would never occur.

"It means you have to strike first."

"Well let's not think about that." he said with a gulp. Then his stomach rumbled "Let's just think about food."

Leon laughed, and patted Lelouch's knee. "I would have to agree with that idea."

And with that, the two of them headed back into the village just happy to be reunited.

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Ginger: it's almost time for the adventure home, whoo! Anyway, as always, leave a review and i'll keep writing!


	22. Pink Frosting and stitches

Disclaimer: I don't own Lelouch... whatever.

Ginger: okay, I'm still trying to get back into the rhythm, but I'm slowly getting there. I hope you guys are still enjoying this.

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After a few days of enjoying the village, the three went into town with Mingmei where they called Sahara and Captain Greggers, before getting instructions to head to Hong Kong where the Stennis would be docking for two days.

"So, I'm flying home right?" Lelouch asked as they headed to a dock in Hong Kong. But after no response he tried again. "I'm flying home, right dad?"

"Afraid not Lelouch." Leon said looking down at him.

"Afraid not? How the hell am I getting home?" he cried.

"You're commin' with us kiddo!" said Macy with a smile.

"You mean…?"

"Welcome to the Stennis Lelouch, don't ask why Holloway requested you and got permission but…. Somehow he did."

Lelouch starred at the carrier in front of them.

"Then I'm flying home from the next port of call right?" Lelouch asked, hoping his father was joking.

"Nope, you're with us till we get home."

"And….. And how long will that be?"

"About four months." said Macy.

"But….. But… but….."

"Welcome to your new home for the next four months Lelouch." said Leon patting his shoulder.

Lelouch just starred up and the gigantic grey monster. "Did you ask mom?" he asked weakly.

"Of course I did. I hope you don't mind home schooling for a couple months."

"What am I supposed to do on this thing? I'm a civilian!"

"Holloway said something about odd jobs."

"Odd jobs? What kind of odd jobs?"

"Who knows?" Leon shrugged.

"See what kind of trouble you get yourself into when you help family?" Aldair asked. "I don't like being out to sea."

"Dad, when you told me I could come for the tiger cruise, this isn't what I had in mind." Lelouch protested.

"I know, but you'll be fine, I promise."

"Where am I sleeping?"

"Well, you're in luck, the CO and XO of my old squadron got sick and had to stay behind in Alaska. They shared a stateroom, and since Macy's my XO and she obviously can't bunk with me, you get to be my room mate." said Leon with a smile, gently nudging him towards the ship.

"but what if I just want to go home dad?"

"Well you're kinda stuck for the time being."

"Thanks." he sighed.

As they boarded the carrier Lelouch began to feel more and more out of place. He had no idea where he was going, what he was doing, or how to even get around the monstrosity. Just making their way to the Captain's quarters, Lelouch found his head spinning.

"Dad, really, I'd rather go home." Lelouch muttered as he figured out how to stuff his things in the small space in his bunk.

"Well, give it a try first, you'll get used to it as long as you follow the simple rules." Leon admitted, putting things in his locker.

"Rules? What rules?" Lelouch asked.

"Rule number one, don't sit up quick in your bunk."

"Why…..?" he asked slowly.

"Because if you forget, you'll hit your head and it'll hurt like hell. Rule number two, don't roll out of your bunk, falling on the metal deck will hurt like hell. Rule number three. Watch your step when you go through the hatches."

"Because I'll hit my toes and it'll hurt?" Lelouch asked.

"Your toes and your shins. And yes, it hurts. Rule number four, when you go down the ladders, make sure you go forward, don't every climb down the stairs backwards, you're more then likely to fall, or not see someone below you."

"I'll keep that in mind. Any more rules?"

"Yeah, don't eat the green been casserole in the chow hall, you do and you'll be miserable as hell for the rest of the night. Same goes for the cake with the pink frosting, we have no idea what the hell it is, but everyone that eats it gets sick."

"Shouldn't they stop serving it then?" Aldair asked.

"You would think."

Lelouch just sighed and shook his head as he scrambled up into his bunk.

"It's kind of a tight fit up here." Lelouch mumbled unable to sit up.

"How do you think I feel?"

"How do you even fit in that bunk?" Aldair asked. "And where do I sleep? I obviously can't climb up into the bunk with Lelouch."

"There's not even any room for you up here, you'd push me out, and I wouldn't be happy falling six feet to the steel floor below." Lelouch protested.

"Just a small price to pay I suppose." Aldair shrugged. "So either you risk falling or else give up some of your clothes for my bed."

"As if! I hardly have any clothes with me as it is, I just have my backpack! I'm not giving them up, you can sleep on dad's chest."

"I'm not even going to be a part of this, we'll figure out something for your bed Aldair, just be patient, in the mean time, Lelouch it's time for dinner. Then we'll see about getting you some uniforms."

"Uniforms? What am I? And intern?" Lelouch sighed.

"Something like that." Leon agreed. "Come now, I'm hungry. Come on Aldair."

So Lelouch followed Leon, and, unfortunately, carried Aldair in search of the mess hall for dinner.

"Aldair, you either need to figure out how to climb over those hatches, or loose weight buddy," Lelouch said, slightly winded from giving the two hundred pound anteater a piggy back ride.

"When faced with such a tough decision, I'll take option number three, live in the room and have you bring me food." Aldair said as they walked over to the line.

"Hey Commander, we don't serve ants in this galley." said one of the cooks as Aldair put his paws on the railing.

"Who said anything about ants? I'll take some of that Lasagna." said Aldair looking at the man.

"Nice joke Commander, you practicing to be a ventriloquist?" he laughed.

"No, that was him." said Leon. "And if he wants lasagna, I'd give him some."

The man just starred before putting some lasagna on a dish.

"Any veggies Aldair?" Lelouch asked.

"I'll take some of that steamed squash." Aldair said, looking at the food.

So the man put a spoonful of squash on the plate and handed it to Lelouch.

"Is he really going to eat that kid?" the man asked as Leon walked away.

"Lasagna's his favorite food." Lelouch explained with a small smile taking a plate of the same. "Never deny the fanged anteater his lasagna."

After grabbing a cookie and a glass of water Lelouch and Aldair joined Leon at the table.

"Here Aldair." said Leon putting the tray on the floor.

Aldair purred happily before opening his mouth and wrapping his tongue around a bite and pulling it back in. "Not bad." he admitted as the entire mess hall went quiet and starred.

Lelouch chuckled.

"I think you're scaring them." Lelouch whispered.

"I didn't do anything, if you want to see them scared then….. WHAT ARE YOU ALL STARING AT?" he roared baring his fangs at the crew making them cower in their seats. "Sheesh, can't they just let an anteater enjoy his lasagna in peace?"

Lelouch and Leon just burst out laughing as everyone else whimpered or scampered out of the room.

"Aldair, don't go scaring the entire crew." Macy sighed as she joined them.

"They were starring at me first." Aldair protested.

"But they didn't roar at you." she pointed out.

"So?"

"So be nice, you never know, they might try and throw you overboard."

"They wouldn't dare, I bite." he said stubbornly. ''

"Don't bite, we don't need them to throw me over because I brought the animal on board." Lelouch said. "So don't bite."

"You don't want to go for a swim?" Aldair asked with a sarcastically sweet smile.

"Now you're just being an ass." Lelouch mumbled taking a bite of his lasagna.

"I wasn't aware I was turning into a donkey."

"If you didn't have teeth, I'd kick you."

"Alright, be nice you two. I don't need to listen to you two bicker for the next four months." Leon said sternly. "and if it comes down to it, Aldair, you can sleep in squadron's ready room, there's plenty of chairs to pick from."

"I'll keep that in mind." Aldair muttered.

After dinner Lelouch spent some time slowly wandering around as his father dealt with the squadron. He eventually found his way to the stern of the ship where he starred out over the water of the open sea as the full moon lit up the ships wake.

"What am I supposed to do on this ship?" he sighed. "I just wanted to go home. At least it's pretty out here."

And with that, he found his way to the room and climbed into his rack for some much needed sleep.

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BOOM! WHOOSH!

"What the…? OWWWWW!" he cried as he shot up and felt a sharp pain in his head. Suddenly he rolled out of bed.

"Careful now!" Leon cried, catching him.

"What the hell was that noise?" Lelouch gasped as his father set him down.

"Some E-2 hawkeyes are being launched for night ops." he explained. "You hit your head pretty hard, you're bleeding."

It was then that Lelouch felt something warm and sticky run down the side of his head.

Leon grabbed a small wash cloth out of his locker and gently wiped away the blood. "We should get that checked. Have you had your tetanus shot?"

"My what?"

"I'll take that as a no. Come on."

Lelouch followed Leon while holding the towel to his head. "It's actually kinda starting to sting a bit dad." he admitted feeling a sharp pain on his forehead.

"Well I know just who to go to, to help with that."

After a few minutes of walking they arrived down in the sick bay.

"Don't tell me you hit your head again young man." said a middle aged woman as they walked in.

"No, Lelouch did." Leon said.

Lelouch looked at the woman in curiosity. She looked quite familiar.

"Lelouch, this is your grandma Celia Ashtor."

"Oh, that's why she looked familiar. Cause Grandpa Ashtor has a picture of her." he said.

"I would hope he still had a picture of me. Now then, have a seat let's have a look at that head sweetheart." said Celia patting the examination table.

Lelouch walked over and sat down before letting Celia gently move the washcloth. He winced as the fabric stuck to the wound and tugged the skin slightly. "Ouchies!"

"Ooh, you hit yourself pretty hard, what did you hit?" she asked.

"Whatever was on the ceiling of my bunk…" he admitted.

"Have you had your tetanus shot?"

"I don't know, what is it?"

"I'll take that as a no. Petty officer?" she called to a man doing inventory on a large medicine cabinet.

"Yes ma'am?"

"Can you prepare a tetanus shot for me?"

"I thought the commander already had his during his first cruise." the petty officer said curiously.

Lelouch couldn't help but smile at the annoyed look on his father's face.

"Not for Leon, for Lelouch."

"Oh, yes ma'am."

"It looks like you're going to need some stitches." she sighed.

"I don't want stitches." he protested.

"but you need stitches. I promise I'll be gentle."

"She's not like Auntie Tuyen, Lelouch." Leon said reassuringly.

"Tuyen's your doctor?" Celia asked.

"Yes."

"Oh my," she giggled as she gathered some supplies. "Your grandfather never told me that. She's a sweetheart, but when she's working she's quite the terror. I think she learned that the clipboard could be used as a weapon after watching her father smack himself in the head constantly. Now then, lay down."

"I don't want stitches." he said again.

"You'll be fine, I promise. Now lay down."

Lelouch nervously did as he was told and shut his eyes tight. He didn't want stitches. "Eeek! That's cold!" he squeaked as he felt a cold liquid being dropped into the cut.

"It's better to feel that then the stitches." she told him.

Lelouch just continued to keep his eyes closed as he felt an occasional prick followed by a gentle tugging.

"There now, see, it wasn't that bad." said Celia after a few minutes.

Lelouch slowly opened his eyes to see her smiling at him.

"I told you it wouldn't be that bad."

"It didn't hurt." he admitted as he sat up.

"I told you." she said again.

"Unfortunately the tetanus shot is another story." Leon pointed out.

"Do I have to?" he asked slowly.

"it's better to be safe then sorry sweetheart." said Celia picking up a needle.

Lelouch just whimpered as he picked up the pillow behind him, hugging it tightly and burying his face in it.

"You can throw a world into chaos and stare down the barrel a gun, but you can't take a needle?" Leon chuckled.

"I don't like shots." Lelouch admitted, his voice muffled by the pillow. He yelped a little when he felt the cold alcohol swab on his shoulder.

"You know, the tenser you are, the more it's going to hurt." Celia said kindly. "Just take a deep breath."

Lelouch did as he was told, still keeping his face covered by the pillow.

"All done."

"Already?"

"Yup. Now you're arm will probably be sore later, but that shouldn't bother you too much."

"But what if I don't like being sore?"

"You won't feel it, because you'll probably be out like a light for a good long while."

"Why…?" he asked slowly.

"Here, take this." she said handing him two pills and a cup of water.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Just take it." said Leon.

Lelouch did as he was told and swallowed the pills. "Now will someone tell what I took?"

"Give it a couple of minutes." said Celia looking at her watch.

Lelouch watched as she walked over to Leon and started talking to him. But after a few minutes he started getting a little sleepy. His eyes began to droop as he yawned, then as he continued to clutch the pillow, he lowered himself back onto the table and quietly drifted off to sleep.

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Ginger: oops, Lelouch hit his head, I wonder how this will work out. Anyway, if you guys still like it review and let me know so I know to keep writing!


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